Media Coverage Archives - Page 17 of 44 - Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina

Fentanyl fueling worst drug crisis in U.S. history, killing 70,000 a year | 60 Minutes

See the original video clip and read the article on the 60 Minutes website.

Fentanyl, which is often hidden in counterfeit pills, is fueling the worst drug crisis in U.S. history. Last year the synthetic opioid killed more than 70,000 Americans.

After fentanyl killed a Candler woman, sheriff’s investigators cleared the wrong man. Months later, an Iowa man was dead

Read the original article on the Asheville Watchdog website.

Authorities mistook man with same last name as supplier, but never followed up after their error

A Candler woman’s overdose death three years ago led investigators to a North Carolina dealer peddling illegal drugs through the mail to addicts nationwide.

Rachel Scillitani, 29, died of a fentanyl overdose in her Candler apartment in May 2021. Seven months later, Danny Birch Jr, of Dubuque, Iowa, was dead of drugs from the same supplier suspected in Scillitani’s death. // Photos provided by the Scillitani and Birch families

But the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office investigated the wrong man and failed to pursue leads that could have put James Adam Earwood out of business, according to federal court testimony. Seven months later, in December 2021, an Iowa man died from fentanyl and heroin he bought from Earwood, who boasted of his “first confirmed kill” as evidence of his drugs’ potency.

Earwood of Rutherfordton had been identified as a likely supplier of the fentanyl that killed Rachel Scillitani, 29, in her Candler apartment in May 2021. But Buncombe sheriff’s detectives interviewed and cleared another man with the same last name, Special Agent Bryce Husak of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service testified at an April federal court hearing.

“It is your testimony today that they were actually investigating the wrong Adam Earwood?” a prosecutor asked.

“Correct,” Husak responded.

There was no follow-up investigation of the right Earwood or effort to determine his whereabouts around the time Scillitani bought the fentanyl and died, nor were records on a payment app she used to buy drugs subpoenaed, the agent testified.

Parents, show this to your teens and preteens!

Families form united front against fentanyl deaths

Read the original article on the Wilson Times website.

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.

Man connected to fentanyl overdose death of Wilson teen appears in court on Tuesday

Read the original article and watch the video on the WRAL TV5 News website.

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.

The law went into effect on Dec. 1.

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.

In June, WRAL Investigates received exclusive access to the chief medical examiner’s office and forensic toxicology lab. The lab said they have jurisdiction over all sudden, unexpected, violent and suspicious deaths in the entire state.

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.

Guilford County billboard is raising awareness of fentanyl overdose victims across North Carolina

Read the original article and watch the video on the WXII News 12 website.

GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — A local nonprofit is working to raise awareness about the dangerous effects of fentanyl on communities across North Carolina.

Off Interstate 85 in Guilford County stands a billboard with the names and faces of fentanyl victims from across the state.

“This horrible, horrible thing is murdering our kids, our family, our friends,” said Race against Drugs founder Mike Loomis. “This billboard shows the state of North Carolina, Guilford County, and all 99 counties that fentanyl is rampant.”

Loomis says the billboard was designed with the help of the families of victims and survivors, many of whom gathered Sunday to reflect on how the drug has impacted their lives.

Deputies with sheriff’s office now serving as School Resource Officers in Beaufort County

Read the original article on the WNCT 9 On Your Side website.

BEAUFORT COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT) — Students in Beaufort County Schools were welcomed back this week with help from the sheriff’s office.

Deputies served as School Resource Officers throughout schools in the district. They’re replacing a third party police force used for the past three years.

There are 13 deputies, meaning each school in the district gets one. On the first day of school, SROs were seen greeting students at car rider lines, giving them high fives and tying their shoes in the hallways.

Having the local sheriff’s office provide school security has been a work in progress since winter.

“To be honest, there’s nothing better than your local sheriff’s department being able to provide school resource officers into our schools each and every day,” Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Dr. Matthew Cheeseman said. “And through that, you’ll see them out at our athletic contests, extracurricular activities and so let’s celebrate them as they celebrate and protect our students and staff. Perfect.”

In order to become a SRO, a 40-hour SRO certification programs has to be completed. During that training, school security is practiced in addition to courses on ethics and leadership.

Each SRO is a sworn police officer and is armed. They’ll be making sure buildings are secure, alarm systems are working, doors are not propped and students and staff feel safe.

Man arrested for selling drugs linked to 2023 overdose in Carrboro

Read the original article on the WRAL TV5 News website.

Jerimiah Hargrove, 20, of Selma, is charged with death by distribution and selling a Schedule II controlled substance.

Carrboro police arrested a man Wednesday and charged him in connection with another man’s overdose death.

Jerimiah Hargrove, 20, of Selma, is charged with death by distribution and selling a Schedule II controlled substance.

Carrboro police said Hargrove sold a controlled substance to Serguei Ndinga Momo, who died of an overdose on June 27, 2023, at the age of 21.

Police said the substance was the cause of Momo’s death.

Authorities are holding Hargrove at the Wayne County Jail on an $80,000 bond.

Police urged people to call 911 if someone is overdosing.

North Carolina’s Good Samaritan Law allows for people to report an overdose – their own or someone else’s – without fear of criminal prosecution.

Naloxone distribution efforts help fight opioid crisis in NC

Watch the video and read the article on the WRAL TV5 News website.

Naloxone is now widely carried by first responders and police. Distribution efforts have also helped make the medication available to community partners.

Naloxone has quickly become a central part of harm reduction efforts nationally and within North Carolina.

The medication comes in two main forms: an injection and nasal spray. Both work to save lives by reversing the effects of an opioid overdose.

Naloxone is now widely carried by first responders and police. Distribution efforts have also helped make the medication available to community partners.

“Harm reduction is the first line of defense we have. It is the on the ground, in the community response. It is by people with lived experience for people with lived experience,” shared Elyse Powell, executive director of the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition.

Efforts to bring naloxone into school systems are also expanding, including in Wake County Schools. School officials tell WRAL News training efforts are underway to prepare for the distribution of the medication to schools this year.

‘Secret fentanyl lab’ found in Fayetteville home sends armed trafficker to prison

Read the original article on the CBS 17 News website.

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.