Category: Breaking News

Death by distribtion trial begins for man accused of selling fentanyl before Carrboro man’s overdose

Read the original article and watch the video on the WRAL News website.

Jeremiah Hargrove is one of seven people to ever be charged with death by distribution in Orange County.

Three years after a Carboro man died from an overdose, the man accused of selling him the drugs is going to trial.

The charge, death by distribution, is relatively new to the North Carolina court system.

The law has been in effect since 2019, making it relatively new when it comes to a legal sense, and it’s being used all across the state.

Law professionals said it can get very complicated when trying to prosecute someone for selling a deadly dose. Since 2019, when the charge of death by distribution became law, Jeremiah Hargrove is one of seven people to ever be charged with it in Orange County. The charges came after 21-year-old Delise Ndinga Momo died of an overdose.

“If it saves one life, it’s worth it,” said retired judge Carl Fox.

Fox said it has its difficulties in getting through the court.

“You have a little bit of difficulty because the main person you need is deceased,” Fox said.

Fox says to get a conviction there needs to be hard evidence of the sale.

“They are, by their very nature, difficult cases,” Fox said.

Hargrove’s trial is just beginning. The prosecutors will lay out their evidence over the course of the trial’s early days. Court records said he sold indigamomo fentanyl in 2023, less than a week after his 21st birthday.

Family members remembering him as a handsome, talented, strong and generous person according to the GoFundMe they created back then. He’s one of the more than 23,000 North Carolinians to die from an opioid overdose since the death by distribution law was created. In that same time frame, according to the Fentanyl Victims Network, nearly 400 people have been charged in relation to selling the drugs that caused those deaths.

You have to say that it’s accomplishing something, and there should be risks involved for people out there dealing dangerous addictive drugs, because that’s the kind of thing that can kill people,” Fox said.

If Hargrove is found guilty, he faces up to five to six years in prison. That trial is expected to continue throughout the week.

Woman charged after man dies from overdose in Chatham County

BEAR CREEK, N.C. (WNCN) — A woman was arrested Tuesday in connection with a deadly overdose in Chatham County earlier this year, the sheriff’s office said.

A bag of evidence containing the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

According to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, deputies found 39-year-old Trent Alexander Phillips dead in the driveway of his home in the 8400 block of Siler City-Glendon Road in Bear Creek while responding to a report of an overdose just before 9 a.m. on April 11.

An autopsy determined Phillips died from a drug overdose, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies said they identified 21-year-old Hannah Machelle Davis of Robbins as a suspect in Phillips’ death after investigating cell phone records and other evidence.

According to a warrant filed by the sheriff’s office, Davis is accused of giving Phillips the methamphetamine and fentanyl that led to his death.

The warrant shows Davis is charged with the following felonies:

  • Involuntary manslaughter
  • Death by delivery
  • Delivering fentanyl
  • Delivering a Schedule II controlled substance
  • Two counts of felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance
  • Possession with intent to deliver fentanyl
  • Possession with intent to deliver a Schedule II controlled substance

Davis made her first appearance in Chatham County court on Wednesday and was given a $1 million secured bond. Her next appearance is scheduled for July 6, according to records.

Alleged drug dealer is charged with killing her mom. NC says there’s no victim

Read the original article on the News & Observer website.

Winter brought Nicole Holliday’s mother back into her life, but spring took her just as quickly.

A little over a year ago, Holliday was working from her Wake Forest home when her grandmother called with the news.

“Nicole, they found your mom dead,” she said.

“I remember hanging up the phone and just screaming,” Holliday, 31, told The News & Observer. “I was just screaming, like, ‘God, why? Why now?’”

Victoria Benhoff, 52, wouldn’t get the Easter visit from Holliday and her grandchildren she’d been looking forward to. The animal lover whose smile brought warmth to any room, even as she battled an addiction that began as a teenager, was gone. Her sister discovered her dead from a fentanyl overdose in their Wilmington-area home March 27, 2025.

The substance use that marred Benhoff’s life for decades had taken it, just when Holliday believed her mother was finally sober. The grief was staggering, but Holliday’s pain only compounded as the financial realities of her mother’s unexpected death became clear.

“My mom’s funeral, with cremation and everything, was right at $7,000,” Holliday said.

In a typical homicide case in North Carolina, the victim’s loved ones would be eligible for up to $10,000 in funerary and burial reimbursement through the state’s victims compensation fund. But even though someone had been criminally charged with death by distribution in Benhoff’s death, Benhoff wasn’t considered a victim because she’d chosen to take fentanyl the night she died.

Holliday learned of this rule from the New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office, which was prosecuting Benhoff’s alleged dealer, in the months after her mother’s death.

“[Assistant District Attorney] Sean Spiering’s office, they said in fentanyl deaths — well, really just drug deaths in general — they do not generally ask the court to cover payment for that because apparently, in North Carolina, fentanyl death is not considered murder,” Holliday recounted.

The resulting gray area, where Holliday’s mother is both a victim and not a victim, is something Holliday struggles with.

“I don’t understand how someone can sell someone a drug that inevitably killed them, and that’s not murder,” Holliday said.

Nicole Holliday, photographed at her home in Wake Forest on Friday, April 17, 2026, shows a photograph of her mother, Victoria Benhoff, holding a grandchild. Benhoff died in March 2025 after ingesting fentanyl.
Continue reading “Alleged drug dealer is charged with killing her mom. NC says there’s no victim”

Kinston man charged with death by distribution following woman’s fatal overdose

Read the original article and watch the video on the WITN 7 News website.

KINSTON, N.C. (WITN) – A Kinston man is facing charges following a fatal drug overdose investigation.

Around 8:30 a.m. on April 8th, Kinston police say they were called to the 2400 block of Carey Road for a reported fentanyl overdose.

When they arrived, officers found 28-year-old Andrea Grant unresponsive inside the home.

Emergency crews performed life-saving measures on Grant, and she was airlifted to ECU Health, where she was put on life support.

Kinston officers began an investigation into the overdose and identified 31-year-old Michael Oates as the individual responsible for providing Grant with the drugs.

On April 9th, officers pulled Oates over. He was arrested and found with marijuana laced with fentanyl, marijuana and a gun.

Police say Grant was taken off life support on Saturday and died as a result of her injuries.

Detectives got warrants to arrest Oates for death by distribution following her death.

He was additionally charged with trafficking fentanyl, possession of marijuana and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Oates was served the warrants and remains in the Lenoir County Jail without bond.

Kinston drug dealer arrested after fatal overdose

Read the original article on the WNCT 9 News website.

KINSTON, N.C. (WNCT) — A Kinston man is in custody and charged with death by distribution after a fatal overdose.

Michael Oats

On April 8, around 8:30 a.m. officers with the Kinston Police Department responded to a reported fentanyl overdose at a residence of Carey Road.

There they found 28-year-old Andrea Grant unresponsive and after EMS’ efforts, Grant was airlifted to ECU Health and placed on life support.

An investigation by KPD detectives and members of KPD’s B-Squad identified 31-year-old Michael Oats as the fentanyl distributor.

The next day, KPD officers carried out a traffic stop involving Oats. During that stop on April 9, Oats was taken into custody and found to be in possession of marijuana laced with fentanyl, marijuana, and a firearm.

Andrea Grant was removed from life support on April 11 and died from her condition. After this, detectives obtained warrants on Oats for Death by Distribution.

Oats remains in custody at the Lenoir County Jail.

In addition to Death by Distribution, Oats has been charged with the following:

  • · Trafficking Fentanyl
  • · Felony Possession of Marijuana
  • · Possession of a Firearm by a Felon

Woman charged with murder, death by distribution in Rutherford County

Read the original article and watch the video on the WLOS ABC13 News website.

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — A woman is charged with murder after a person was found dead at a Rutherford County home last year.

MUG SHOT – Kathryn Diane Morrison was arrested May 19, 2026, on second-degree murder and death by distribution charges in Rutherford County, North Carolina. (Photo: Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office)

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said Kathryn Diane Morrison was arrested May 19, 2026, on second-degree murder and death by distribution charges.

On Nov. 20, 2025, deputies were called to a home on Windy Hill Drive regarding a cardiac arrest. The sheriff’s office said Pauline Shumpert Scott was found dead at the scene.

Following an investigation, the sheriff’s office said a grand jury indicted Morrison on the charges May 11, 2026.

Morrison appeared in court May 20 and received a $500,000 secured bond.

North Carolina woman charged in death by distribution case

Read the original article and watch the video on the WYFF News 4 website.

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, N.C. —

A woman in Rutherford, North Carolina, has been charged with death by distribution following an investigation after a victim was found dead in her home.

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said in November 2025, authorities responded to Windy Hill Drive to a report of a cardiac arrest.

Kathryn Diane Morrison

Upon arrival, the victim, Pauline Shumpert Scott, was pronounced dead at the scene, and deputies say an investigation into the incident was requested.

On May 11, 2026, a grand jury indicted Kathryn Diane Morrison on charges of 2nd-degree murder and death by distribution.

Deputies found and arrested Morrison on May 19. She appeared before a judge on May 20 and was given a $500,000 secured bond.

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