He wanted to withdraw more cash and find "more girls." Hours later, he was dead, and the people he'd spent the night with rolled his body in a rug.
Nathan Millard, a 42-year-old construction executive and father of five from Georgia, died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in February 2023 during a night out that ended in drug use, an accidental overdose, and an attempt by three people to cover up his death.
A Business Trip That Went Wrong
Millard flew to Baton Rouge to scout a potential job site for his construction business. That evening, he FaceTimed his wife from an LSU basketball game, had dinner with a client at Happy's Irish Pub, and was cut off by a bartender for having had too much to drink. Surveillance footage showed him leaving the pub around 11:17 p.m., walking in the direction of his hotel just two minutes away.
A Night That Took a Different Turn
Instead of returning to his hotel, Millard was later seen on a security camera walking near a Greyhound station with another person, after declining a security guard's offer to call him a ride. According to a police affidavit, Millard connected that night with Derrick Perkins, a local man with a history of drug-related arrests, and two women, Tiffany Ann Guidry and Tabbetha Barner. The group drove around Baton Rouge using crack cocaine together; at one point, Millard withdrew cash and asked Perkins to find additional women. The group ended up at a house on Lorri Burgess Avenue, where Millard and the women began using drugs intravenously.
Death and a Cover-Up
According to Perkins's account to police, he stepped outside while the group was using drugs and returned to find Millard dead. Panicking, he and Guidry rolled Millard's body in a rug, loaded it into Perkins's car, and dumped it in a vacant lot on Scenic Highway near a funeral home. Perkins later sold the car; it was found burned soon after. Millard's phone was found separately, blocks from his hotel, and his credit card was later used at a nearby convenience store.
Discovery
Eleven days after Millard went missing, a passerby smelling a foul odor near the vacant lot called 911 and found his remains wrapped in plastic and carpet. An autopsy found no signs of internal or external trauma, and investigators initially withheld ruling on a cause of death pending toxicology results.
Cause of Death and Arrests
Toxicology results released weeks later confirmed fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol in Millard's system; the East Baton Rouge Coroner's Office ruled his death accidental, caused by the combined effect of those substances. Derrick Perkins was arrested and charged with unlawful disposal of human remains, obstruction of justice, criminal damage to property, and failure to seek assistance. Tiffany Ann Guidry was arrested on similar charges along with prostitution. Tabbetha Barner, who was also sought, was later arrested and charged with prostitution and failure to seek assistance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Nathan Millard's cause of death?
An accidental overdose involving a combination of fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol, according to the East Baton Rouge Coroner's Office.
Were the people involved ever charged?
Yes. Derrick Perkins, Tiffany Ann Guidry, and Tabbetha Barner were all eventually arrested and charged in connection with the disposal of his body and related offenses.
Was Millard's death considered a homicide?
No. His death was officially ruled accidental; the charges against those involved relate to improperly disposing of his remains and failing to seek help, not to causing his death.