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.
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.
RUTHERFORD COUNTY, N.C. (FOX Carolina) – The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said that a woman has been charged with murder for providing drugs that led to a person’s overdose in November 2025.
Kathryn Diane Morrison
Deputies said that the investigation began after responding to a residence on Windy Hill Drive in reference to a cardiac arrest. The victim, Pauline Shumpert Scott, was pronounced dead by EMS on scene. Investigations and forensics crews responded to conduct interviews and process the scene.
According to deputies, the case was presented to a Grand Jury in Rutherford County on May 11, and a true bill of indictment was returned on Kathryn Diane Morrison for second-degree murder and death by distribution.
Officials reported that Morrison was located and arrested on May 19. Morrison appeared before a District Court Judge on May 20 and received a $500,000 secured bond.
A Richlands man is facing serious charges after deputies say he sold fentanyl that led to a deadly overdose.
According to arrest warrants issued by the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, 26-year-old Anthony Joseph Dupcza was arrested Wednesday, April 29. He is charged with felony death by distribution, possession with intent to manufacture, sell, and deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, as well as selling and delivering a Schedule II controlled substance.
Arrest warrants state the charges stem from an incident on March 31, 2025. Investigators allege Dupcza sold fentanyl to Taiye Reid, and that the ingestion of the drug resulted in Reid’s death.
Deputies also say Dupcza possessed fentanyl with the intent to sell or distribute it.
Dupcza is being held without bond at the Onslow County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, April 30.
HAMPSTEAD, N.C. (WECT) – A Hampstead man was arrested in March following the death of an 18-year-old woman from a suspected fentanyl overdose, according to the Pender County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO).
Daniel Blaine Joye was arrested for death by distribution on March 12 after he allegedly delivered fentanyl that resulted in a fatal overdose.
Daniel Blaine Joye(Pender County Sheriff’s Office)
According to PCSO and available search warrants, deputies and EMS personnel responded to a residence on Mullein Drive in Hampstead on Feb. 27 after receiving a 911 call about an unconscious woman. The victim was identified as Shelby Slye of Hampstead.
A witness told dispatch she saw a man dragging a woman toward a car. The witness, a nursing student, began CPR on Slye.
Warrants state Joye told deputies he found Slye unresponsive but breathing and tried to get her into a car to take her to the hospital. He said he noticed blue discoloration around her lips and shallow breathing. Slye was transported to Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, where she was pronounced dead on Feb. 28.
Warrants also state Joye allegedly told deputies at the scene that Slye had a history of narcotics abuse and had consumed a fifth of liquor during the day. However, hospital employees later told detectives Slye’s toxicology report showed no signs of alcohol use, according to records.
Detectives served a search warrant at the Mullein Drive residence on March 1. During the search, Joye was found in possession of fentanyl and was arrested. The fentanyl was packaged in wax paper bindles stamped “We The Best.”
A second search warrant led to the seizure of additional fentanyl packaged in the same bindles, empty bindles with the same stamp, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and cell phones belonging to Joye and Slye, according to records.
The warrant states a woman at the residence told detectives Joye routinely purchases fentanyl and other narcotics and provided fentanyl to Slye on a regular basis. Records state the woman said she believed Joye was Slye’s source of illegal narcotics.
Detectives attended Slye’s autopsy on March 3 at Onslow Memorial Hospital. The search warrant states presumptive fentanyl urine test showed a positive indication of fentanyl in Slye’s urine.
On March 12, detectives secured additional charges against Joye related to the overdose death. Joye faces the following charges:
Felony death by distribution
Possess with intent to manufacture, sell, deliver Schedule II (three counts)
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A “prolific” Franklin County fentanyl dealer who was linked to a drug death and fentanyl marketed to children was sentenced to at least 10 years in federal prison this week, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Ahmod Talley was arrested in June 2025 after he was pulled over and found with “perversely labeled” fentanyl with terms like “Try This” and “Life Support,” a U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina news release said.
Ahmod Maliq Talley (inset) in a photo from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Franklin County Sheriff’s Office file photo by CBS 17
Talley sold fentanyl to the overdose victim just three days before the death, and the “Try This” stamped fentanyl was also found at the overdose death scene, the news release said.
Later, Raleigh and Franklinton raids of Talley’s home and his grandmother’s house led to the discovery of guns and fentanyl “marketed at children” stamped “Goosebumps,” prosecutors said.
“This sentence sends a message, understand clearly: when you sell deadly poison to our kids and families just to make a little bit of money, you will pay serious consequences,” U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said in the news release.
In addition to fentanyl, prosecutors said raids of homes in Raleigh and Franklinton discovered cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.
A federal order along with Talley’s conviction also said officials would seize guns, including:
Glock 23 pistol
Kahr P380 pistol
Delton 5.56 rifle
All ammo associated with each firearm
Talley’s guns and drugs were found in homes in Franklinton and Raleigh in mid-January 2025, according to an order of forfeiture in a plea deal with the prosecution.
As part of a plea agreement, officials said Talley pleaded guilty to:
conspiracy to sell and possess with the intent to sell heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine
possession with intent to sell heroin and fentanyl
possession with intent to sell cocaine
two counts of possession of a gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
“This prolific drug dealer earned every day of his prison sentence, and the residents of Eastern North Carolina will be safer while he’s locked up,” Boyle said in the release.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations worked on the investigation into Talley, the news release said.
Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II sentenced Talley in the case on Tuesday. Court officials recommended that Talley serve time at the Federal Prison in Butner.
