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.
A high-capacity pill press sits on a washing machine in a Fayetteville home. (Courtesy USDOJ)
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — What began as a Fayetteville police investigation ended in federal charges, a 27-year prison sentence, and more than six pounds of fentanyl taken out of circulation.
Quavion Maurice Pickett, 30, became the focus of an investigation after a “confidential informant” tipped off Fayetteville police in April 2022 to his role involvement in distributing drugs, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. on Wednesday.
Pickett, a.k.a. “Q,” is a resident of Rock Hill, S.C., and has a residence in Fayetteville where police began surveilling after the tip. After observing what appeared to be multiple drug transactions, a search warrant was issued.
While in the home, officers discovered the laundry room was being used as a “secret fentanyl lab”, the USDOJ release said. The makeshift lab was described as being used as a counterfeit pill-making operation. The fentanyl pills seized were pressed with markings of “A215”, which was to give the appearance of being 30-milligram doses of oxycodone hydrochloride, Easley said.
Wake County will work with 13 community organizations specializing in naloxone distribution, recovery support, housing services and more to combat the effects of the opioid epidemic. Durham County Sheriff’s Dept.
Lindsey Humphreys has been recovering from opioid addiction for the last five years, she said.
She’s known people in Wake County who have died from opioids because they didn’t have access to naloxone, a life-saving drug that reverses the effects of opioid overdose.
“I decided to be part of the solution and just started to distribute this,” she said. “I have been doing it for the last couple of years in the memory of some of my friends who passed.”
Humphreys is the executive director of Illuminate NC, an organization that helps distribute naloxone in Wake and Vance counties. Illuminate distributes about 300 naloxone units a month, she said.
Newly-released warrants reveal a Raleigh mother and her unborn baby were among the latest overdose cases as they each died from fentanyl overdoses. The latest data serves as a warning for parents.
Seventeen North Carolinians die from an overdose each day.
Newly released warrants reveal a Raleigh mother and her unborn baby were among the latest cases as they each died from fentanyl overdoses. The latest data serves as a warning for parents.
Barbara Walsh knows the danger of fentanyl, a toxic poison her daughter died from unintentionally in August of 2021.
“Basically, you have a murder with no weapon,” Walsh said. “Fentanyl puts someone to sleep like a dog.”
Sophia drank what she thought was water in a bottle – except it was laced.
“This young woman was 24 years old, Apex High School grad, Appalachian State grad, professionally employed,” said Walsh.
A new search warrant issued by Raleigh police describes a recent suspected fentanyl death of a mother and her unborn child. It happened at an apartment in southeast Raleigh.
Police responded to a woman in cardiac arrest on Aug. 14.
A man inside the apartment told police that she took fentanyl and that he last saw her watching a movie on her phone about an hour earlier before finding her unresponsive.
Wake County EMS administered Narcan, a drug that reverses the symptoms of an opioid overdose.
But the mother and her unborn baby died.
“We are seeing about 3,600 per year die, every year it’s getting larger until this year,” Walsh said.
According to the office of the state medical examiner, there were 193 fentanyl positive deaths in May alone in North Carolina.
Despite that, yearly data is showing a downward trend. There were 3,354 fentanyl deaths in 2022, 3,341 in 2023 and 1,008 so far in 2024.
With this week being International Overdose Awareness Week, she’s hopeful parents can continue to educate their children about the dangers of fentanyl – an odorless, tasteless drug.
“Right now, 7 out of 10 pills not from a pharmacist contain fentanyl,” Walsh said. “Most people don’t know it’s in their pill, a vape or a drink.”
Durham has installed two Narcan vending machines as part of a broader effort to make treatment for drug overdoses more accessible.
Two Narcan vending machines are now available to the public in Durham at:
Durham County Department of Public Health, 414 E. Main St.
Durham County Detention Center, 219 S. Mangum St.
Federal health leaders visited Durham on Wednesday to discuss the importance of making Naloxone, an over-the-counter drug sold under the name Narcan, more readily available. Among the visitors were Dr. Rahul Gupta, who oversees the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Narcan is a lifesaving drug that can help reverse overdoses. During Wednesday’s visit to the detention center, Gupta said free access to the treatment is a game changer.
“Every time this happens, it’s a leading effort for the country as an example for the nation, for the state to do that.,” Gupta said. “Are there enough across the country? No. This why I’m here today … to exemplify the leading efforts right here in Durham County.”
Gupta said overdoses in North Carolina have declined in recent years, citing a 14% decrease in overdoses in the state compared to a 5% national decrease.
The vending machine at the detention center will be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while the vending machine at the Department of Public Health will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
People at risk for opioid overdose, including those struggling with opioid use disorder or taking high doses of opioid medications, are recommended to carry Narcan.
Durham County Department of Public Health, 414 E. Main St.
LEXINGTON — On a recent Saturday, family members gathered in a circle at a church here to share stories of loved ones lost to fentanyl.
“Our whole world is turned upside down,” said Michelle, a Forsyth County mother who lost her 19-year-old son to fentanyl poisoning. She didn’t want to use her full name for this story or go into details about his death, as authorities are still investigating.
She doesn’t think her son knew he had taken fentanyl, which has become more common as drug dealers add it to everything from heroin to fake prescription medications.
Just a few grains of the highly potent opioid — about 2 milligrams, an amount that’s barely enough to cover the date on a penny — can be fatal. In 2021, fentanyl was involved in 83 percent of fatal medication or drug overdoses in the state, according to N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
“If this can happen to him, this can happen to anybody,” said Michelle, who has made it her mission to help educate other parents about the dangers of fentanyl.
She’s not alone in her fight.
Barbara Walsh, whose Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina organized the recent Lexington meeting, is pushing for North Carolina to require that the opioid reversal drug naloxone be available in all schools. Her 24-year-old daughter died from fentanyl poisoning in 2021 after unknowingly drinking a bottle of water laced with the drug.
