The fentanyl crisis has taken the lives of more than 13,000 North Carolinians in recent years and it’s currently killing eight North Carolinians a day. The rise in overdose deaths is driven by illegally manufactured fentanyl.
The group Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina recently joined NC Newsline for an extended conversation, in which founder Barb Walsh shared her family’s story, described the organization she leads, and shared some of the policy changes the group is seeking from state leaders.
Editor’s note: This is a rebroadcast of an interview NC Newsline originally aired August 20, 2023.
The family of a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill freshman student who died after overdosing on fentanyl-laced cocaine on the campus of Duke University is seeking some justice for their daughter.
So far, no one has been charged in the death of Elizabeth Grace Burton, or Gracie as her family called her. She was 19 years old.
Court documents reveal Burton became “unsteady” and “wobbly on her feet” about an hour after meeting with a suspected drug dealer on March 9 outside a Duke student’s dorm. The former Duke student is Patrick Rowland, who pleaded guilty to a drug distribution charge.
An autopsy revealed Burton died two days after investigators said she met up with Rowland after a party and contacted him to buy cocaine.
A Carolina freshman was found unconscious in a Duke University dorm room in March and died two days later of a drug overdose. Neither university said anything publicly about her death until contacted by The Assembly.
Paramedics rushed into a residence hall on Duke University’s Kilgo quad at about 6:30 a.m. on March 9 and climbed to the third floor of the old stone building around the corner from Duke Chapel. In room 309, they found a pale, chilled body in a puffy jacket, on her back in a twin bed and glistening in a pool of sweat.
The young woman was barely breathing, according to the 911 call log and an investigative report. A trash can sat next to the bed.
After almost an hour of treatment for cardiac arrest, an ambulance took Elizabeth Grace Burton, a business student from Charlotte and member of Zeta Tau Alpha at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to the Duke University Hospital. Two days later, she was pronounced dead. Burton was 19.
A state autopsy says she died of cardiac arrest from a toxic mix of cocaine and alcohol. A private autopsy also found fentanyl and GHB, a depressant that can give feelings of euphoria.
Until contacted by The Assembly, Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill said nothing publicly about the death. Duke said it deferred to UNC because Burton was a student there, and UNC said it considers the family’s wishes when deciding to release a statement.
No one has been charged with Burton’s death. But Burton’s companion that night, former Duke student Patrick Rowland, has pleaded guilty to using a cell phone to facilitate the distribution of cocaine and marijuana. Rowland, 22, is scheduled to appear in federal court on October 18 for a status hearing and will be sentenced in December.
Rowland could face a civil suit from Burton’s family. He is no longer at Duke. Duke officials won’t say whether he was expelled or left voluntarily.
Raleigh police said Christen Lee Neubert, 40, has been charged in connection with the drug overdose death of Maureen Walsh, 55.
A woman has been arrested and charged in connection with a fatal overdose from February.
Raleigh police said Christen Lee Neubert has been charged in connection with the drug overdose death of 55-year-old Maureen Walsh.
On Thursday, WRAL News obtained a toxicology report for Walsh that indicated methamphetamines and amphetamines were in her system when she died. Methamphetamines are considered a street drug, which is typically made in a lab illegally, whereas amphetamines are usually prescription medications like adderall and ritalin.
Neubert, 40, has been charged with murder. Neubert has pending charges for possessing methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia with two probation violations.
Toxicology results, obtained by WRAL News, showed Walsh had methamphetamines and amphetamines in her system when she died.
Homicide charges in drug overdose cases are rare in North Carolina and difficult to prosecute, according to attorney Daniel Meier.
“How much of your actions caused the death versus the actions of the person who died and who should be responsible for that?” Meier said.
There would also have to be enough evidence to prove one person was directly tied to someone’s death.
“If I sell to Bob who sells to Jane who sells to Sue who sells to Dave and Dave dies, how far up the chain can you go as to who did it,” Meier said.
North Carolina’s “death by distribution” law holds drug dealers liable for murder if their drugs cause someone’s death, even if they didn’t intend to kill anyone.
WRAL asked Raleigh Police if Neubert faced a death by distribution charge. It’s still unclear.
They said: “We charged her with homicide due to evidence that directly links her to contributing to her death.”
North Carolina has changed its “death by distribution” law to make it easier to charge drug dealers with murder in overdose cases, even if they didn’t sell the drugs for money. The new law takes effect in December, but it’s not clear if it will lead to more prosecutions.
“District attorneys ultimately have the say,” Meier said.
Neubert has pending charges for meth and drug paraphernalia, as well as two probation violations.
On Thursday, the judge informed Neubert about the charges against her and told her they would appoint a capital defender to represent her. Her next court date is set for Nov. 2 at 9 a.m.
It has been eight months since Fara Eve Barnes has been without her daughter, Skye.
Skye Barnes died inside her dorm at Sullivan Hall on the campus of NC State University on February 11.
“She gave the most amazing hugs. Her hugs were not just a quick release,” said Barnes’ mother. “I miss the things that never happened that we get to have and are blessings in our lives.”
Barnes’ autopsy listed her cause of death as an atrial fibrillation to ibuprofen toxicity.
The ibuprofen overdose, according to Barnes’ mother, was due to the amount of work her computer science major daughter was taking in the spring semester.
“She had communicated how overwhelmed she was with the class load that all day every day was consumed to do homework for these 19 credits that she was guided into taking,” said Barnes. “There had not been an intention. This is the commonality in these stress casualties. You’re not finding this suicide note. Somebody hadn’t made a plan. They’re not thinking about ending their life.”
Barnes told Eyewitness News she could tell something was off with her daughter due to the course load and text messages they had exchanged.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Advocates and law enforcement in the fight against opioids in North Carolina are calling a new piece of legislation a major victory. On Thursday, Governor Cooper signed a revised version of SB 189 into law, establishing harsher penalties for people who traffic and provide bad drugs.
Under the revised bill, which treats death by distribution as a Class C felony, drug traffickers and people whose drugs result in others dying will face more serious jail time. It also makes charging those people easier, no longer requiring prosecutors to prove a transaction, just that the drugs were “delivered”.
“What this means is the families who worked to help change the law for the better won. And it means that anyone who loses a loved one in the future faces a better chance of justice,” said Barbara Walsh, Executive Director of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina.
Walsh lost her daughter, Sophia, to fentanyl in August 2021, and founded the Victims Network to help impacted families get justice — and to advocate for legislation like the revised SB 189.
The extremely deadly opioid can kill in very small doses
Police in Raleigh, North Carolina, have confiscated enough fentanyl to kill 85% of the state’s population, and every member of their town multiple times over.
According to a report from Axios, police have seized 17 kilograms of fentanyl so far in 2023.
Fentanyl is a very deadly synthetic opioid. The Drug Enforcement Agency says that 2 milligrams of fentanyl, the equivalent of just a few grains of salt, is enough to potentially kill someone from an overdose. The seized amount is enough to kill 8.5 million people, 85% of the state’s population, or the entire 470,000 strong population of Raleigh more than 17 times over.
The highly deadly substance has found its way into much of the nation’s illicit drug supply, and helped fuel the record breaking number of overdose deaths America suffered in 2021 and 2022. Raleigh is also the home of North Carolina State University, with a massive student population of over 30,000 students.
NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) — As parents and activists raise their voices for action on Fentanyl Awareness Day, new data from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office shows the fentanyl problem is only getting worse in North Carolina.
In fact, there were more fentanyl-related deaths reported in just the first five months of this year compared to all of 2016 and 2017 combined. In the last twelve months in North Carolina, there have been 3,433 reported fentanyl-related deaths.
“We’re losing. we’re losing kids. We’re losing grandbabies. We’re losing sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, and it’s unacceptable,” said Barb Walsh, Executive Director of the non-profit Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina.
Walsh lost her daughter, Sophia, to Fentanyl in August of 2021, after she drank a water bottle she didn’t know had fentanyl diluted in it. She said prosecutors’ decision not to press charges was crushing.
“It’s devastating to a family to know who killed your child and not be able to do anything about it,” said Walsh.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — As fentanyl awareness and prevention day approaches, many people gathered for a rally at the state capital Sunday.
The rally was to help raise awareness about the innocent teenage victims who have died by unintentionally encountering fentanyl in fake prescription medications like Adderall, Xanax and Percocet.
According to the group, 13,671 North Carolina residents have been killed by Fentanyl in the past nine years, and eight NC residents die each day by Fentanyl.
Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina is also calling for an increase in salaries and hiring chemists to process toxicology reports and the investigation of drug-related deaths.
Monday will mark National Fentanyl Awareness and Prevention Day.
If the bills pass, it would broaden who gets criminally prosecuted for distributing fentanyl. As it stands, North Carolina is one of the few states that has a death-by-distribution law.
That law allows district attorneys to prosecute people who sell drugs that lead to an overdose death.
The bills would allow district attorneys to prosecute people for not just selling drugs, but for general distribution, even if there is no money involved.
“They would see the person who killed their son, or daughter, or wife or cousin in the courtroom,” Executive Director of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina Barb Walsh said. “And there’s no words for that.”
Walsh and her group have been connecting family members of fentanyl overdose victims with one another to form a support group.
