Media Coverage Archives - Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina

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.

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.

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.

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.

Deputies: Western NC woman charged with murder for providing drugs in victim’s overdose

Read the original article on the FoxCarolina.com website.

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.

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.

Richlands man charged in deadly fentanyl case in Onslow County

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.

Advocates in NC say crisis isn’t over as new data shows sharp drop in fentanyl, overdose deaths

Read the original article on watch the video on the ABC11 News website.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Fentanyl Awareness Day is being observed Wednesday with new data showing a decline in fentanyl-related deaths — and overall overdose deaths — across North Carolina.

An update from the NCDHHS shows overall overdose deaths in the state fell by 34% between 2023 and 2024, the first decline since 2019. Fentanyl-related deaths peaked at just over 3,300 in 2022 and have declined to fewer than 1,500 last year, according to state data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Advocates say the progress is a good sign — but they’re clear the fentanyl crisis is far from over.

“We now have over 20,000 fentanyl victims in North Carolina, and the families, the victims families have said enough,” Barb Walsh of Cary said.

Walsh lost her daughter, Sophia, to fentanyl in August 2021. Since then, she’s worked with lawmakers to push for changes and founded the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina to help families navigating similar losses.

“So the deaths are still occurring and it may be less, but those families will not take any comfort in knowing that their loved one was not saved,” Walsh said.

That decline in fentanyl-related deaths is part of a broader drop in overdose deaths across the state. According to NCDHHS, overdose deaths involving all drugs fell from more than 4,400 in 2023 to fewer than 3,000 in 2024.

Walsh credited the progress in part to expanded access to naloxone, a drug used to reverse overdoses, and increased public awareness.

“They’re saying the word fentanyl out loud. They’re talking about the life naloxone. They’re elevating the public discussion about naloxone and fentanyl victims. Deaths More importantly, it is treating the victims and their families with dignity and respect,” she said.

Despite the improvement, Walsh said continued efforts are critical.

“It is not time yet to stop talking about trying to save lives together. The work the government is doing, the opioid settlement funds, law enforcement, district attorney’s harm reduction groups, public health, the families who have started nonprofits, all of you, all of us are needed in order to save lives,” she said.

State officials say counties showing the most progress are those using funds from a $1.4 billion opioid settlement, which requires adherence to specific guidelines and reporting standards to access the money.

While the latest data shows a significant decline, advocates say continued coordination across agencies and communities will be key to sustaining the progress.

Why 72,000 Deaths a Year Is Not a Success Story

Listen to the podcast or watch the video on the Grieving Out Loud website.

With the number of drug overdose deaths dropping, some are celebrating. But is there a risk in declaring victory too early and cutting funding for prevention? Today’s guest on Grieving Out Loud, an addiction researcher at Stanford, says not so fast. About 72,000 overdose deaths a year still exceeds the total number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War.

Dr. Wayne Kepner says not only are far too many people still dying, but celebrating too early could cost more lives. He recently wrote an article titled, “America must not learn to live with 72,000 overdose deaths a year.”

In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, Dr. Kepner shares what history has taught us about past drug epidemics, and how those lessons can guide the path forward while preventing as many deaths as possible.