On Monday, March 2, 2020, Steven Nix called his sister-in-law, Brittany Noojin, at work. He nonchalantly told her that her sister had tried to kill herself, and that she should come over. Brittany arrived at her sister’s home to find that first responders were stopping resuscitation efforts and pronouncing her 32-year-old sister, Breana Noojin Nix, dead. The autopsy stated that it was an accidental death caused by an overdose of the opiate Fentanyl. Breana’s family was stunned. The beautiful, bright, ICU nurse was not a drug user and had never expressed thoughts of suicide. Less than six months later, Breana’s husband, Steven, had his ex-girlfriend move into his home and was living comfortably off the money paid to him from Breana’s life insurance policy. By this time, the Noojin family knew that Breana’s death was not an accident and strongly believed that Steven was behind it. Police, however, supported the ruling of accidental death, forcing the Noojin family to start their own investigation into what was so obviously the MURDER of Breana Noojin Nix.
Who Was Breana?
Breana Leigh Noojin was often thought of as shy and quiet, but once she felt comfortable around you, her real personality showed through. She was smart and silly and could always make people laugh. Her constant concern for others led her to attend college and earn her nursing degree. Even as a teenager, Breana loved helping others.
She and her sister, Brittany, were very close and either talked to each or saw each other almost every day.
Meet Steven (but you’ll wish you hadn’t)
Breana met Steven Nix in 2008. The two dated for about 2 years, then decided to tie the knot in 2010. Her family never noticed any signs of physical abuse, but as time went on, Steven became more and more controlling and seemed to be emotionally abusive towards his wife. Breana earned her nursing degree and was working at Princeton Medical Center in the Surgical ICU full-time. She was also working part-time as a nurse at a nearby medical facility. Steven occasionally worked odd jobs for friends and family. He had a job as a janitor at a local hospital, but was fired. He then got a job at a factory, but didn’t last long there either. Mostly, Steven sat home playing video games and bragging about being a “stay at home husband.”
Despite the fact that Breana was bringing in most, if not ALL of the couple’s income, Steven had become incredibly controlling about their finances. He tracked everything that she bought and wouldn’t let her buy anything that he didn’t give the okay for. If she ordered something, she had to have it sent to a friend’s house so Steven wouldn’t find out. He would track Breana’s cell phone so he knew exactly what she was doing when she wasn’t at work. Her family began to notice Steven’s obsessive and creepy behavior when they were together. When they’d go out places with Steven, he would often comment on other women, sometimes even taking photos of ones he found very attractive.
Though Breana was very close with her sister, Brittany, she didn’t often talk to her about her marriage. Brittany was excited to move to Hayden, Alabama, where Breana and Steven lived, so she could be closer to her sister. The two girls loved being able to see each other so often. Steven would often go to Brittany’s house to help her with small maintenance problems or other odd jobs. She said that while he’d be at her house, he would talk really negatively about Breana, saying that she had a shopping addiction and spent way too much money. Breana was prescribed Adderall for her ADHD, but had to hide it, because Steven would steal it. In February of 2020, it seemed that Breana finally felt it was time to get out of her marriage and away from Steven. According to Brittany, she began looking into options for divorce.
Brittany said that Steven began to display even more odd and inappropriate behavior leading up to her sister’s death. On February 25th, just a few days before Breana’s death, Steven sent Brittany a text: “If your sister ask if you ordered us a sex swing, tell her yes and that it’ll be here Friday sometime. I’ve [got] her fired the F up about it 🤣 Matter of fact in about 15min text her and say, Hey just a FYI y’all’s swing should be in Friday 😜” She found it very strange.
The Day of the “Accident”
On Monday, March 2, 2020, Breana finished her night shift at the hospital, after working 7PM to 7AM. It took her about 30 minutes to finish up her charting, then another 30 minutes to get home, getting her back to her house around 8AM. Steven said that he was asleep when she arrived home.
At 12:21PM, Brittany said that Steven called Breana’s mother, Ginger Thomas, asked if she was sitting down, then told her that Breana had killed herself. At 12:23PM, Brittany wasl at work, finishing up her lunch when she got a call from Steven. He asked her what she was doing, then calmly said, “Your sister’s done tried to kill herself. You better get over here.” Brittany initially thought it was some sort of weird joke, but soon realized that Steven wasn’t kidding. She immediately left work and sped towards her sister’s house. It took her about 19-20 minutes to get there from when she first got the call from Steven, a drive that normally took her at least 25 minutes. As she pulled onto the street, she saw that it was packed with police and an ambulance. She knew that it must be serious. When she walked into, Steven was sitting on the couch with his parents on either side of him. His parents looked very upset and Steven was looking straight down at the floor. His sister, Eady Nix, was also there. Brittany couldn’t understand what was happening. On March 2, 2020, at 12:54 resuscitative efforts were stopped and 32-year-old Breana was pronounced dead on scene. People on scene told Brittany that her sister’s body was already cold when responders arrived on scene, which indicated that Breana was very likely beyond help when 911 was called.
Just before they pronounced Breana dead, Brittany noticed that Steven’s sister, Eady, had left the house. She didn’t return to the home for approximately an hour. Brittany also noticed that Steven’s uncle, Leslie Moore, a deputy with Hayden Police Department, was on scene. It was his day off, but he was dressed in full uniform. A witness later said that police arrived within minutes of EMS, around 12:19PM. When they arrived on scene, police saw that Deputy Moore was already there in his uniform. Brittany didn’t think that her sister would’ve done anything to hurt herself intentionally, so she couldn’t comprehend that her sister was dead. She asked Steven what had happened.
Steven’s Side of the Story
Steven’s first story, of multiple, was that he’d been asleep when Breanna got home from work. Breana had been in the bathroom when he walked by around 11AM and heard a thud. He said that he thought it was her dropping her cell phone, and didn’t think much of it. He left the house and went to the bank and the dump and was gone for about an hour. When he got home, he noticed that his wife was still in the bathroom. The door was locked and when he knocked and called her name, Breana didn’t respond. Steven said that he tried to unlock the bathroom door using his nail. Once it was unlocked, the door was still stuck. It seemed like Breana was leaning up against the door. He said that all he could see were his wife’s feet, which were blue.
Finally, Steven said that he was able to push through the door and found Breana on the floor, unresponsive. He called 911 and EMS was dispatched at 12:14PM. Steven reported that he tried to do chest compressions until EMS arrived. He also told Brittany that he’d noticed a needle in the sink, along with a couple drops of blood. There was an 18 gauge needle found by responders in the sink that appeared to have been used to inject Breana with drugs. There were several other unopened needles throughout the bathroom in a variety of sizes. Brittany said that the scene was absolutely horrific.
This is Weird
One of the first concerning things that she noticed was that the home wasn’t being treated like a crime scene. Steven and his family were allowed to stay in the home and his uncle continued to walk around the home as an officer, with no one considering the fact that he was related to the death. She found that Steven’s parents had actually arrived at the house before the paramedics. You may be asking, did they live very close to the house and the paramedics were responding from a distance? Oh, NO NO NO. The paramedics came from a station that was much closer to the Nix’s house than Steven’s parents’.
While responders were still on scene and medics were still in the bathroom tending to Breana, Steven was extremely frantic about emptying the trash can in the bathroom. He hovered around responders until he was finally able to grab the trash can bag and put it in the main trash can, which Brittany noticed was full, although he said he’d just been to the dump. He took the bag from the main trash can and threw it in the bed of his truck.
Police found Breana’s cell phone, but it was locked. Steven wouldn’t give them the code to open it. Fortunately, Brittany knew the code and was able to unlock the phone. They found her phone opened to a Facebook video that had been partially watched. The phone showed a missed call from Steven at 7:53AM that morning, but the notification was still there, indicating that Breana hadn’t checked it. Another notification confirmed an appointment Breana had for the following day. Brittany thought it was strange that her sister hadn’t checked any notifications from around 8AM that morning. Was it possible that her sister had been deceased prior to 11AM? She also didn’t understand how there was a missed call from Steven at that time if he had, as he originally said, been asleep when Breana came home from work. Witnesses later said that when police asked Steven that exact question, he told them that he must’ve been awakened and called his wife, but that he didn’t remember it. Because that makes sense.
Also found on Breana’s cell, were texts between her and Steven from the night before, while she had been at work. The two had been arguing about an alleged affair that she believed Steven was having. There was clearly some information on Breana’s cell phone that police found interesting, but Steven told them they could only look at the phone while he was there and that they couldn’t take it with them. Police also asked if they could look through Steven’s phone, his truck, and Breana’s car. He said they could look through Breana’s car, but nothing else without a warrant. Police started the process of obtaining a warrant. While waiting for the warrant, Steven’s dad tried to inconspicuously move the bag of trash that Steven had taken from the house, from his son’s truck, to his own. The police were like NOPE. In the bag, they found black gloves, syringes, and other things that could be considered evidence. At 3:30PM, the coroner removed Breana’s body from the home. Brittany never saw her sister’s body at the scene.
Later that night, after Brittany had returned home, she received a strange call from Steven around 7PM. He finally had an explanation for the call from him to Breana at 7:53 that morning. He said that he called her because he wanted to pull a prank on her, but didn’t say what the prank was. He also told Brittany that he’d looked through her sister’s phone and found google searches for “how to kill yourself” and “how to kill your dogs”. Brittany also recalled that Steven had texted her at 12:02PM that day, not long before he’d called her about Breana. The text said, “Did you figure out where to go to get your tag at school?” Brittany had been trying to get her car registered, but had been having a difficult time due to Covid. The strange part of the text that Brittany realized later, was that Steven had already called his uncle, Deputy Moore, to the house regarding an “emergency” 14 minutes earlier.
How in the Fuck
An autopsy was performed, but unfortunately, was only released to Steven, who refused to share it with Breana’s family. The cause of death was labeled as an accidental death from a drug overdose. The next day, March 3rd, Brittany and her mother went to Steven and Breana’s house to get some of her clothing for the funeral home to dress her in. After going through her closet and drawers, including her underwear drawer, and found no evidence of drugs or needles. (Remember this)
On March 4th, two days after Breana’s death, Brittany received a call from Steven at 2:44PM. He asked her to come over to the house because he had something important to show her. When she got to the house, Steven was there with his parents and his sister. Steven took Brittany into the back bedroom and told her that while his sister was going through things in the guest bedroom, she found two vials of Fentanyl. He showed her the vials. He said that he’d also found a Tide Pod bag full of needles, but didn’t show her those. After their conversation, Brittany and Steven went back out to the front porch, where his family was waiting. Brittany told them that she was headed to the funeral home the next day to do her sister’s hair and makeup for the funeral. Steven’s parents insisted that she not go, that they didn’t want her to see her sister after the autopsy. Later that evening, a woman named Stacie Roberson, was seen at Steven and Breana’s home. Stacie was the woman who Breana believed Steven to be having an affair with just prior to her death. Stacie and Steven had dated prior to him meeting Breana, meeting at the hospital that she worked as a secretary at and Steven worked as a custodian. About a week later, they were seen out in public, eating together at a restaurant.
More Inconsistencies
On March 5th, Brittany went to the funeral home to help get her sister’s body ready for the funeral. The funeral home staff showed her Breana’s body, and Brittany couldn’t believe what she saw. There were bruises in various stages of healing across her legs, feet, arms, hands and torso. Brittany said that her right hand had defensive marks and bruising. She remembered that she’d seen Breana in a sleeveless shirt a few days prior to her death, but hadn’t noticed any bruising. She also saw that there were over 80 fresh needle marks across her body. She didn’t see any needle marks that looked to be old. Some of them appeared to be in places that she couldn’t have reached, like the back of her elbows and her back. The funeral director said that she’d never seen anything like that, even on drug addicts. Flabbergasted at what she was seeing, Brittany made several photographs of her sister’s body. (These photos have not been publicized, however Brittany has shown them to a few select people who confirm that her descriptions are very accurate.)
Breana’s co-workers hadn’t noticed anything strange during her last shift. They hadn’t noticed any odd bruises or marks. She wasn’t a drug user and she wasn’t suicidal. She was occasionally randomly drug tested at work and had never failed a test. A friend asked Brittany for photos of the Fentanyl vials. She compared the photos of the vials to the Fentanyl that was used at Princeton Medical Center, where Breana had worked. They weren’t the same vials and another hospital staff member said that she’d never seen that type of vial at their hospital. Police had searched Breana and Steven’s home prior to his sister “finding” the Fentanyl, and had found no drugs, except for the Fentanyl in the bathroom where Breana was found.
On March 6th, 2020, Breana Noojin Nix was laid to rest at Mount Zion Cemetery. Brittany said that during her sister’s funeral, Steven didn’t speak to anyone and he was on his phone most of the time.
Later that evening, Brittany had some friends over to her house to celebrate Breana. Steven came over and went outside to smoke with the husband of one of Brittany’s friends. While alone, he told the friend that he knew a lot of people high up in Blount County and could get away with anything he wanted. Steven didn’t realize that the man was a police officer. Brittany said that Steven’s demeanor completely changed when he realized the friend was a police officer, and he left Brittany’s house. The officer said Steven seemed like he was guilty of something.
The day after Breana’s funeral, Steven asked Brittany to come over to the house. She had told him earlier that there were a few of her sister’s belongings that she wanted, specifically a purse that she’d given her last year. When she got to the house, Brittany said that there was a smaller purse that she “sensed Steven really wanted her to open.” She did, and found a used needle inside, with blood on it that looked fresh. The only other thing in the purse was a receipt from 2017. She said that Breana only used the purse that she gave her from 2019 on, not the smaller one that the needle had been inside of. She then asked if she could have one of Breana’s sweatshirts or another piece of her clothing. She looked inside of Breana’s underwear drawer and found more needles and a bloody napkin. Brittany was certain those items had recently been placed in there because they hadn’t been in there when she and her mother looked through the drawer just before Breana’s funeral.
On March 10th, Brittany received a text message from Steven, which read, “Should I keep all these dang high-dollar sex toys, or what should I do? Crazy question to be asking my sister-in-law. LOL”
An Investigation???
On May 22nd, the toxicology report for Breana was published. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences found that Breana had therapeutic levels of Amitriptyline, Amphetamine, Sertraline, and norsetrealine. These were all appropriate levels to be expected from Breana’s prescribed anti-anxiety, anti-depression medications, and her Adderall. The report also found 5.1ng/mL(nanograms per milliliter) of Fentanyl in her blood. A fatal dose can be approximately 3ng/mL.
On June 2nd, Breana’s death certificate was issued. The immediate cause of death was listed as “overdose” and the manner of death was ruled as an “accident”. According to an independent investigator who’s been working with Breana’s family, he was told by medical examiners that they write their autopsy reports “almost completely based on the circumstance of the death.” They read reports that are given to them by the investigating offices, in this case, the sheriff and the coroner’s office. He concluded that, due to the autopsy report findings, it seemed as though the reports given to the ME, most likely from the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, were inaccurate.
Steven Living His Best Life
In late June, Steven received the payout from Breana’s life insurance, estimated to be around $160,000. He started making expensive purchases and wasn’t hiding it. He had new concrete poured on his property and a shop built. On his Facebook, he boasted about new upgrades for his truck and a zero turn lawn mower. He also bought some expensive ostrich skin boots. A witness said that they overheard Steven asking police if he would have any issues accessing Breana’s life insurance policy if the death was labeled a suicide. AT THE SCENE. WHILE HIS WIFE’S BODY WAS STILL IN THE HOUSE.
Six months before Breana’s death, she paid a premium in order to double her life insurance policy. Typically, people only do this if they have children or fall ill. Her family didn’t understand why she’d done this. Around that time, she and Steven filed for bankruptcy. Because of this, when Steven received the life insurance policy, all of the money would come to him rather than going to pay off his debts.
During late summer, only six months after Breana’s death, Stacie Roberson, the woman who Steven had once dated and supposedly cheated on Breana with, moved into his house. A witness said that they renamed Breana’s dogs. Stacie even posted a photo of herself on Facebook wearing a heart-shaped necklace that belonged to Breana. How do we know it was the same necklace? BREANA’S MOTHER MADE IT FOR HER. Also, don’t forget, Stacie worked at a hospital. Around this time, Steven asked Breana’s family to help pay for her headstone. He told them that he ordered it from overseas, and that it would take several months to arrive.
Brittany posted a photo on Twitter of a text that was sent to Steven in March of 2021 (I’m not sure if the text was sent by Brittany or her mother) that said, “Steven, this has been a very long year. You mentioned before Christmas that a headstone had been ordered, when is it going to be delivered?” Rather than responding to the text, Steven showed the text to his mother, who made a passive aggressive post on Facebook regarding the headstone on the one year anniversary of Breana’s death. She wrote that she had been with her son when he ordered the headstone, and that it was taking so long because he was getting a specific photo of her etched onto it. She wrote about how they are missing part of their family and Breana will always be with them. One part said, “There is concern over Breana’s headstone and some may say Facebook isn’t the place for that to be addressed.” Breana’s father commented on the post, “You are absolutely right Facebook is no place for this nonsense especially today.” One of Steven’s mother’s friends was quick to comment and call her father a “moron!!!”
All evidence collected from the house on the day of Breana’s death was never put in an evidence locker. For 15 months, it sat on the desk of the initial lead investigator, who was removed from the case and the sheriff’s department for unknown reasons. There are even photos taken at the scene that showed police handling things with bare hands. Most people, including the Noojin family, believe that this case was handled inappropriately from the moment police walked into Breana’s home.
Police will not release the autopsy to the Noojin family, citing that they cannot since it’s a criminal investigation, EVEN THOUGH her death is listed as accidental. The Noojin family has officially filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Steven Nix. Brittany posted this on the Justice for Breana Facebook page: “We have no control over a criminal investigation or what they do or do not decide to investigate, what evidence they do and do not pursue, and what ultimately, their conclusion will be. However, we do have the ability to fully investigate the facts surrounding Breana’s death through the civil wrongful death lawsuit. That lawsuit gives the family, the investigators and attorneys the ability to, through subpoenas and other discovery means, conduct a private, thorough, and fair investigation. We will finally have access to all of the evidence, including the most basic of evidence, such as the autopsy, which we still have been denied full access to. The Noojin family investigators and attorneys are now 100% focused on the civil wrongful death lawsuit that will finally give us access to the proof and answers that we’ve been asking for, for over 2 years.”
Steven still lives in the same house, but has reportedly become extremely reclusive, rarely leaving his house. He has cameras all around his property. Many assume he is just living off the insurance money that was paid out to him, DESPITE THE FACT THAT POLICE SAY IT’S STILL AN OPEN INVESTIGATION.
Please visit the Justice for Breana Noojin Nix Facebook Page. There are several links on the page to help support the Noojin family, as well as updates and more information about Breana’s case.
