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A woman was arrested Monday and charged with the fatal overdose of a man earlier this year.
A woman was arrested Monday and charged with the fatal overdose of a man earlier this year.
On March 29, the Wake County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a death investigation at a home off Panther Lake Road. They found 39-year-old Matthew Godbold unresponsive inside the home.
Their initial investigation indicated that the cause of death was a possible overdose.
Officials collected and sent evidence to the Wake County Bureau of Forensic Services for testing, which determined that substances found at the scene tested positive for fentanyl.
Deputies determined that 37-year-old Lauren Olsen sold drugs to Godbold that ultimately led to his death. The WCSO did not provide details as to how they connected Olsen to him.
On Monday evening, deputies arrested Olsen and charged her with aggravated death by distribution and felony sell/deliver a Schedule II controlled substance. She is scheduled to appear in court for the first time for this offense Tuesday afternoon.
According to court records, Olsen has a previous arrest history related to possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia from other counties.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. When manufactured by pharmaceutical companies and approved by the FDA, it can be safely used to treat patients in severe pain. The synthetic fentanyl leading to many overdose deaths is made in unregulated labs, pushed by drug cartels, and put in various drugs as a cheap way to produce extremely strong substances.
The fentanyl crisis continues to devastate families across North Carolina, even as overdose deaths decline. Back in late May, Gov. Josh Stein called for a special unit to investigate fentanyl trafficking across the state.