Read the original article on the Raleigh News & Observer website.
Ashley Lane was happy being a stylist, but she also was a friend and a therapist to people who were struggling, even when her own mental health and substance abuse got the better of her, her family said.
On Monday, a Durham man was accused of selling the fentanyl that caused Lane, 39, to overdose Dec. 28 at The Graduate Hotel in downtown Chapel Hill. She died on Dec. 31 at UNC Hospitals.
Aaron Donald Brooks, 40, is charged with felony death by distribution sale, possession with intent to sell and deliver a controlled substance, sale or delivery of a controlled substance, and possession of a controlled substance, court records show.
He is being held in the Orange County jail under $300,000 secured bail, records show.
A search warrant obtained by Chapel Hill police in early January offers details about Lane’s death. A call from her family to the Durham County Sheriff’s Office with information about text messages and an online payment led to Brooks’ arrest, the warrant says.
Court records show this is not the first time Brooks has been charged with selling drugs. On Dec. 11, he was arrested in Durham County after a months-long investigation.
A search warrant accuses him of selling drugs to Durham undercover officers using the dating app Grindr. Psychedelic mushrooms, cocaine, LSD, and prescription narcotics were found in his home, along with drug packaging and a large amount of money, it says. Brooks was charged with several felonies, including two counts of delivering methamphetamines; two counts of selling methamphetamines; possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver methamphetamines; trafficking in methamphetamines; manufacture, sell, deliver or possession of methamphetamines within 1,000 feet of a park; and maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances, records show.
He was released from the Durham County jail on Dec. 12 after posting a $25,000 secured bond.
According to court records, Brooks also faces multiple charges filed in recent months of felony stalking and violating a domestic violence order obtained by his ex-wife. Court records show he posted bond and was released three times, including on Dec. 17, after being charged with violating the terms of his pretrial release, records show.
Deadly drugs delivered to hotel
Lane checked into the hotel that weekend looking for a change of pace as she tried to reset her life, her aunt Jackie Helton said.
On Dec. 27, Brooks texted Lane at 9:44 a.m. to say he had “asked and the person lectured me about the dangers of fentanyl,” the warrant says. He then asked Lane how much she wanted.
About 12 hours later, Brooks texted to say he was “picking up the stuff now” and asked for money, the warrant says. Lane paid him at 9:31 p.m., and Brooks texted her again at 10:17 p.m. to ask for her room number. About 15 minutes later, he texted, “I’m on the floor.”
The next morning, Brooks called the hotel desk and asked the employee who answered to call 911. Lane was not breathing, he told the employee, who called 911 and ran to the room, the warrant says.
The employee found Lane, who had a faint pulse, on the bed and moved her to the floor, the warrant says. Brooks handed him a Narcan nasal spray that the employee then administered to Lane, it says.
Narcan is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The warrant does not say from where Brooks got the Narcan.
Text messages lead to charges
After Emergency Medical Services took Lane to UNC Hospitals, Brooks told police at the hotel that he didn’t smoke any fentanyl, but Lane did that night, the warrant says. He also told police there were drugs in her purse, it says.
Police found “several pills in green packaging” that appeared to be Kratom, an herbal supplement that is legal in North Carolina, but did not find narcotics or paraphernalia “in plain view,” the warrant says.
Lane’s family contacted the Durham County Sheriff’s Office a short time later, after finding text messages to Brooks on her phone and a $100 electronic payment to Brooks made shortly before her death, the warrant says.
Police identified Brooks as the contact in Lane’s phone labeled “Aaron Quinn Frirnd,” because Brooks gave the same number to police who responded to the 911 call, the warrant says.
On Dec. 31, Lane was taken off life support, and her body was returned to Indiana.
Addiction struggle, move to NC
The native of Indianapolis, Indiana, struggled with addiction when she was younger but had been “happy and healthy” for over 10 years, her brother Michael Lane said Monday night. She “was always my biggest cheerleader,” he said.
But about four years ago, Lane broke her foot, and the pain from standing on her feet in a medical boot all day made it hard for her to work, he said. She couldn’t get pain medication because of her history of addiction, so she looked for ways to self-medicate, he said.
“She did not know that she was taking fentanyl until it was too late,” Michael Lane said.
In April 2024, Lane was crushed when her niece Jasmine died at age 22, the family said. Jasmine’s mother, Jennifer, was the same age when she died in 2005, and Jasmine was buried on her mom’s birthday, Michael Lane said.
“It was a hard reminder of her, like losing her over and over again,” he said. “She lost a best friend” in Jasmine.
Lane’s inability to get mental health care compounded the problem, her younger sister, Melissa Rodriguez, said. In June, Lane moved to North Carolina, and in August, she started as a cosmetologist at Edge Salon & Wellness in Chatham County, according to a Facebook memory page created by her family and friends.
Being a stylist made her happy, because she could “make others feel good about themselves,” Lane’s mother, Angelena Shaffer, said.
“She had a heart of gold and loved having mother-daughter time so she could spoil me,” Shaffer said. “My heart is so broken.”
Lane also loved spending time with her three children, singing and dancing, shopping, and and visiting the beach, her family said. She always had good advice, Rodriguez said, recalling “countless hours” talking with her sister.
“I miss laughing with her the most,” Helton added. “No matter what we did, we were laughing. She loved the ocean, and we shared time at the beach together. There was never a dull moment when we were together.”