Members of Moms on a Mission and the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina gather outside the Wilson County Courthouse to show support for families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl overdose. Drew C. Wilson | Times
Two organizations for families who have lost children to fentanyl overdose came together in a show of solidarity Tuesday as a defendant charged with death by distribution made a brief appearance in Wilson County Criminal Superior Court.
Members of Wilson’s Moms on a Mission and the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina sat in the courtroom as defendant Albert Green, 23, of Wilson, appeared with his attorney, Will Farris.
Green is charged with felony death by distribution in the fatal overdose of 17-year-old Jacob Puente Castro, who died Sept. 25.
Green faces additional charges including felony selling and delivering a Schedule II controlled substance, felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, felony maintaining a vehicle, dwelling or place for the purpose of controlled substances and felony possession with intent to manufacture, sell, deliver a Schedule II controlled substance.
The man accused of killing a teenager through fentanyl distribution appeared in court on Tuesday in Wilson County. Albert Wilson Green, 23, appeared before a judge on Tuesday. In May, authorities charged Green in connection to the 2023 death of a 17-year-old in Wilson.
The man accused of killing a teenager through fentanyl distribution appeared in court on Tuesday in Wilson County.
Albert Wilson Green, 23, appeared before a judge on Tuesday. In May, authorities charged Green in connection to the 2023 death of a 17-year-old in Wilson.
Several family members of victims of fentanyl poisoning were outside the courthouse on Tuesday, including Felicia Puente Castro, the mother of Jacob Castro.
“He was young … full of life,” she said.
Wilson police officers found Jacob Castro, who was 17 at the time, unresponsive and not breathing on Sept. 25, 2023, at a home on Hillcrest Drive. Castro died at the scene.
During their investigation, authorities determined Castro died as a result of fentanyl intoxication. Officers identified Green as the man responsible for selling Castro narcotics at the time of his death.
Castro, 17, died in 2023 due to a fentanyl overdose.
“He believed he was purchasing one thing, but he got fentanyl,” Castro’s mother said. “We believe that Albert Green knew what he was selling Jacob.”
In October 2023, Authorities arrested and charged Green with one count of selling and delivering schedule II-controlled substance related to Castro’s death. In May, authorities added a charge of felony death by distribution.
Green turned himself in on May 29. Nearly a dozen people arrived in a courtroom Tuesday to support Castro’s family as Green and his lawyer asked a judge for a trial.
Green, 23, is charged with death by distribution in the death of a Wilson teenager in 2023.
“It’s hard to look at him and know that one person can cause so much damage,” Felicia Castro said. “Not only for me and Issac, but to our group and so many in our group behind us.”
One of those people supporting Felicia Castro was Barb Walsh, the executive director of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina. Walsh founded the group one year after her daughter passed away from drinking out of a water bottle with traces of fentanyl.
“It’s just like a chocolate chip cookie; we don’t know where the chocolate chips are going to end up,” Walsh said. “We don’t know where the fentanyl ends up in a pill. You could cut it in half. One person takes half [and] the other person takes half. One dies, one lives. It’s not worth the risk.”
Fentanyl Victims Network of NC outside Wilson County courthouse.
North Carolina lawmakers passed legislation towards the end of 2023, which made it easier for law enforcement to charge and prosecute people suspected of distributing drugs linked to overdose deaths.
The law also no longer requires proof that drugs were sold to the victim in the case of a fatal overdose, just that the suspect supplied the drugs.
While the law now makes it easier to prosecute drug dealers for overdose deaths, it still could take families months to determine whether a family member died from an overdose.
According to Chief Medical Examiner Michelle Aurelius, at least 15,000 family members are still waiting to learn the cause of death of a loved one, with Aurelius saying drug overdose deaths are surging.
“When we look back at 2016 for the fentanyl-positive deaths here in North Carolina, we’ve gone up 584%,” she said.
Felicia Castro said her son will always be with her, and she hopes she can give him a sense of justice with Green behind bars.
“Justice looks like [Green] spending time in prison for his crime,” she said. “Justice looks like no more young people dying from fentanyl … no more children.”
Green told WRAL News at the courthouse that he had no comment on his case. He is due in court again on Dec. 10.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Officials said Monday that a North Carolina man was sentenced in a fentanyl operation that continued even after his arrest in a 120 mph car chase with two children that led to a fiery crash.
Daquan Wainwright along with some of the illegal items found in the home he shared with co-defendant London Kebe, deputies say. Onslow County Sheriff’s Office photos
Daquan Wainwright, 26, of Onslow County was eventually busted on drug charges when deputies responded to his home for a domestic dispute, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Even after his eventual arrest, Wainwright ordered others to collect the drug debts owed to him and give the money to his mother, officials said.
Wainwright was first busted in March 2022 and authorities ended his fentanyl trafficking six months later — thanks to a search of a house in which the woman he lived lied about children being home, officials said.
Fentanyl was found in a pitcher (top left) during a search of Wainwright’s home, located about 7 miles from the beaches of Onslow County, deputies said. Onslow County Sheriff’s Office photo
Wainwright, with London Kebe, as a co-defendant, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to trafficking fentanyl while armed with firearms, a Monday U.S. Attorney’s Office news release said.
A 2021 Audi luxury car was seized during his eventual arrest, deputies said.
Officials first began looking into Wainwright after police and deputies received around 15 complaints about him selling drugs in Onslow County, the news release said.
On March 1, 2022, Wainwright — with two children in his car — led cops on a 120 mph chase before crashing into a ditch. The car erupted in flames, but no one was injured, officials said.
Some of the 40 pounds of marijuana found in a search of Wainwright and London Kebe’s home, deputies said. Onslow County Sheriff’s Office photo
But from the charred car wreckage deputies found 681 grams of marijuana in the car, officials said.
After that, an investigation into Wainwright’s criminal activities continued with a sting buy of two ounces of fentanyl from Wainwright, officials said.
But, Wainwright’s criminal enterprise only came to an end with a lie about children during a domestic dispute on Sept. 29, 2022, the news release said.
After being called about the domestic matter, deputies arrived at the Eider Loop Road home of Kebe and Wainwright. Kebe opened the door, and deputies immediately smelled the odor of marijuana in the house, located south of Jacksonville, officials said.
Deputies tried to take Kebe into custody on an active warrant but she claimed there were children in the home. Authorities searched the house but found no children.
However, officials said they did find:
2+ kilograms of fentanyl
40 pounds of marijuana
drug paraphernalia
a loaded Highpoint handgun
a loaded AR-15 rifle
a stolen 9mm handgun
a rifle with an obliterated serial number
another 9mm loaded handgun
several rounds of ammunition
nearly $15,000 in cash
As deputies were at the house, Wainwright drove by the home several times and was eventually arrested there.
He tried to destroy his phone as he was being handcuffed but officials said they were able to locate pictures and other evidence in the phone of drug trafficking and firearm possession.
“After he was in custody, Wainwright continued to direct others to collect debts owed to him for drugs and provide the payment to his mother,” the news release said.
The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, Jacksonville Police Department, and the DEA investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyler Lemons prosecuted the case. U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan oversaw the guilty plea agreement.
GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — A local nonprofit is working to raise awareness about the dangerous effects of fentanyl on communities across North Carolina.
Off Interstate 85 in Guilford County stands a billboard with the names and faces of fentanyl victims from across the state.
“This horrible, horrible thing is murdering our kids, our family, our friends,” said Race against Drugs founder Mike Loomis. “This billboard shows the state of North Carolina, Guilford County, and all 99 counties that fentanyl is rampant.”
Loomis says the billboard was designed with the help of the families of victims and survivors, many of whom gathered Sunday to reflect on how the drug has impacted their lives.
BEAUFORT COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT) — Students in Beaufort County Schools were welcomed back this week with help from the sheriff’s office.
Deputies served as School Resource Officers throughout schools in the district. They’re replacing a third party police force used for the past three years.
There are 13 deputies, meaning each school in the district gets one. On the first day of school, SROs were seen greeting students at car rider lines, giving them high fives and tying their shoes in the hallways.
Having the local sheriff’s office provide school security has been a work in progress since winter.
“To be honest, there’s nothing better than your local sheriff’s department being able to provide school resource officers into our schools each and every day,” Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Dr. Matthew Cheeseman said. “And through that, you’ll see them out at our athletic contests, extracurricular activities and so let’s celebrate them as they celebrate and protect our students and staff. Perfect.”
In order to become a SRO, a 40-hour SRO certification programs has to be completed. During that training, school security is practiced in addition to courses on ethics and leadership.
Each SRO is a sworn police officer and is armed. They’ll be making sure buildings are secure, alarm systems are working, doors are not propped and students and staff feel safe.
