Kentucky woman says she survived encounter with man some are calling a serial killer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) — A Kentucky woman said she survived an encounter with a man investigators have linked to multiple suspicious overdose deaths — including the death of her best friend.

Heather Shelton said Brian Epperson, who faces charges in connection to the overdose deaths of two Kentucky women, tried to kill her months after her friend’s death.

“He’s taken everything he could take and he’s taken her from us,” Shelton said. “So, he’s taken everything.”

Hilory Davis.jpeg — It was November 2024 when Shelton got the call that her best friend, Hilory Davis, was found dead inside a Lexington hotel room of an apparent meth overdose.

It was November 2024 when Shelton got the call that her best friend, Hilory Davis, was found dead inside a Lexington hotel room of an apparent meth overdose.

“I didn’t believe it,” Shelton said.

The two met in addiction recovery. Shelton said Davis had been sober for years and that meth was never her drug of choice. She believes police dismissed Davis’ death the moment they saw drugs.

“If they had treated her with a little more respect, then they would’ve found out what they had to,” Shelton said. “And this probably wouldn’t have happened to any of us, at all.”

At the time, Davis was dating Epperson, whose name was on the hotel room where she died.

Months later, Shelton said she met Epperson at his hotel to pick up a key to Davis’ storage unit. That’s when, she said, he offered her a bottle of water.

“I took a good chug — a very good chug,” Shelton recalled.

The next thing she remembers is waking up in a cold hotel room the next day.

“I couldn’t move. I was really sore, tired,” she said. “I know I fell back asleep again — I was in and out.”

When asked whether she believes Epperson thought she was dead, Shelton said, “Absolutely … I do.”

Shelton said she believes Epperson wanted to know how much she knew about Davis’ death.

“I feel like he knew to come to me,” she said. “He knew because I was the weakest one and he needed someone to tell him what all we knew. He needed that. I can’t believe I didn’t see that.”

She said she never went to police or a hospital afterward.

“It’s one thing to know, and it’s another to accept it,” Shelton said.

Now, she said she lives with the trauma of survival and the guilt that her friend didn’t make it.

“He took more than just my body,” she said. “He took my sense of security. He took my trust in people. He took my trust in the legal system. He took my trust in everything.

“I question everything. I shouldn’t be here. I should not be here — and I don’t know why I am.”

When asked if she had a message for Epperson, Shelton said: “What goes out of the dark absolutely comes to light.”

Epperson has not been charged in Hilory Davis’ death. He currently faces charges related to the overdose deaths of Kristen Morris and Reacheal Dawson — two other Kentucky women.