BEAUFORT — It was standing room only as more than 50 people attended the forum about fentanyl Saturday at the Beaufort Train Depot. Those attending have witnessed the devastation fentanyl causes as local victim families introduced their loved ones and shared the many ways fentanyl causes death.
Barbara Walsh, executive director of the Fentanyl Victims Network of NC, who organized the gathering to honor those who lead the effort to stop fentanyl traffickers, said In many instances. Lethal fentanyl is ingested unknowingly. Fake prescription pills containing undisclosed fentanyl additives made to look like Adderall, Xanax, Percocet and Oxycontin are deadly.
“The victims did not know,” she said.
The pharmacy is the only safe dispenser of prescription medication. Recreational drugs also may contain undisclosed deadly fentanyl additives because it is a cheaper man-made ingredient.
Fentanyl is highly addictive. A person’s body can quickly become dependent on fentanyl. Local recovery and treatment resources are offered by Brooke Barnhill, manager of the Post Overdose Response Team (PORT) within the Carteret County Health Department.
Fentanyl has killed 18,959 North Carolina residents in 10 years, 2013-2023. Of those, 168 occurred in Carteret County.
Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina honored the #1 NC investigation and prosecution team by presenting them with the Save Lives Together award: Sheriff Asa Buck, District Attorney Scott Thomas, Prosecutorial District 4 (Carteret, Craven and Pamlico Counties), Assistant District Attorney Dave Spence, Carteret County and Legal Assistant (Paralegal) Michelle Gillikin, all of Carteret County.
Walsh said in the state, there are 37 NC Sheriffs who have no fentanyl investigation arrests leading to prosecution and four NC District Attorneys who have no prosecutions.
The removal of fentanyl traffickers who cause death requires teamwork. The Sheriff treats each death as a homicide investigation until proven otherwise. If the investigation leads to a prosecution, ADA Spence and LA Gillikin apply their extensive legal expertise to each case.
Walsh said victims and their families are treated with dignity and respect throughout the investigation and prosecution phases. This is unique to Carteret County.
“It should not matter where a person dies in NC to receive an investigation and justice, but it does,” she said
Walsh thanked Shannon Adams for serving as the local co-host of the event. Shannon’s brother, Ryan, thought he was dependent on Percocet, yet died in 2019 from undisclosed fentanyl additives in those pills.
Shawne Moran and Keenan, First Responder Therapy Dogs of Eastern North Carolina, were on hand to comfort the victim families and to discuss what they do to support recovery efforts in Carteret County.
More than 50 community members gathered at the Beaufort Train Depot Saturday to discuss the deadly impact of fentanyl in Carteret County. During the forum, Sheriff Asa Buck, District Attorney Scott Thomas, and other local officials received the Save Lives Together Award for their ongoing fight against fentanyl trafficking.
Families at the event shared personal stories about losing loved ones to fentanyl, highlighting the community’s urgent fight against the deadly drug.
One of those was Barbara Walsh who lost her Daughter to the deadly drug.
“It’s important for the families who lost a loved one to know that what their community is doing to keep someone else from dying,” said Walsh.
And In Carteret County alone, fentanyl overdoses have claimed 168 lives from 2013 through 2023.
According to Carteret County Sherriff Asa Buck a trend decreasing over the years.
“These cases are not different someone committed an act they provided a drug to someone caused them to lose their life and we investigate that just like a homicide and we prosecute those offenders just like we would if they would have killed somebody with a knife or a gun, ” said Sheriff Asa Buck
This past Saturday, a community forum addressing the impact of fentanyl in Carteret County was held at the Beaufort Train Depot. During the event, Sheriff Asa Buck, District Attorney Scott Thomas, Assistant District Attorney Dave Spence, and Legal Assistant Michelle Gillikin, all of Prosecutorial District 4, were honored with the Save Lives Together Award for their collaborative work in holding fentanyl traffickers accountable. Additionally, Brooke Barnhill, manager of the County’s Post Overdose Response Team (PORT), provided a Narcan (naloxone) demonstration and outlined local recovery resources.
Carteret County issued a news release from the event.
by Jaymie Baxley, North Carolina Health News April 14, 2025
By Jaymie Baxley
Naloxone is a widely available medication that can bring someone back from the brink of death in minutes, but cost, stigma and other barriers have kept the opioid overdose antidote out of reach for many of the North Carolinians who need it most.
In Wilson County, a new initiative aims to break down those barriers by giving residents free, 24/7 access to naloxone — no questions asked.
Repurposed newspaper dispensers filled with naloxone nasal spray were installed last month at five sites in the rural, eastern North Carolina county. These kiosks also contain information about recovery services for substance use disorder and testing strips that can be used to check illicit drugs for deadly substances such as fentanyl.
Jeff Hill, executive director of the coalition, said the goal of the kiosks is to “make sure that any person who needs a box of naloxone in Wilson County can access it at no charge.”
“Yes, over-the-counter Narcan is available, and yes, I can buy it at Walmart,” said Hill, referring to the brand name of naloxone. “But if I’m a person in early recovery who’s trying to help somebody, or I’m a person in active use or a family member of a person in active use with limited income, I might not have $50 to spend on that box of Narcan.”
Strategic placement
One of the kiosks was installed at BHG Wilson Professional Services, a center that provides medication-assisted treatment to residents recovering from opioid use disorder.
Amber Leclercq, program director for the center, said the kiosk was “strategically placed” on a side of the building that faces a row of tall bushes.
“With the vending machine being right there, it’s easy to access but also shaded enough to where other vehicles driving down the road don’t see,” she said. “If people are not yet ready to seek treatment or if they’re scared, this gives them the opportunity to discreetly obtain tools and information that might be life-changing. They’re taking the first step.”
The four other Wilson County kiosks are at county-owned facilities, including the local library, Health Department and Department of Social Services, and at Recovery Concepts Community Center, a coalition-run space that hosts meetings for addiction support groups.
Each kiosk was initially loaded with 25 boxes of naloxone and 100 testing strips. Hill said interest in the stations had surpassed the coalition’s expectations, with a couple of them needing to be restocked just days after they were installed on March 24.
“Our machine was one of the ones that got cleaned out pretty quickly,” said Lori Walston, director of communications for the Wilson County Department of Social Services. “We have a lot of foot traffic because of our agency and what we do. Also, the neighborhood where we sit is one of the neighborhoods of greater need in the community.”
Alisa Milliken, the department’s grants and wellness coordinator, said the agency also serves a number of residents experiencing homelessness — a population with an especially high risk of overdose.
“We have a lot of homeless people coming in on a daily basis needing food and things like that, so we expect that the Narcan will keep going pretty quickly, probably every time at our location,” she said.
Hill said the kiosks will be regularly replenished using funds from Wilson County’s share of a landmark court settlement with the pharmaceutical companies that allegedly fueled the national opioid epidemic. The county is set to receive a total of $7.8 million in annual payments through 2038.
Community education
Esteban Arizpe, a community paramedic with Wilson County EMS, said arming citizens with naloxone reduces strain on first responders.
“When someone calls 911 for an overdose and they’re actually administering the naloxone prior to EMS’ arrival, it greatly increases the chance of that person surviving while freeing up our units for other calls,” he said.
The kiosks not only provide easy access to naloxone, they also provide instructions on how to use it. Each station is equipped with a video player that gives a step-by-step tutorial for administering the drug.
“One thing that we strive for is to better ourselves and better our community by providing resources and giving them the education to know the signs and symptoms of an overdose, and how to treat it,” Arizpe said. “This is something that is helping us to meet that goal.”
Arizpe added that he’s seen a “great increase in knowledge” around naloxone and other tools such as syringe exchanges and testing strips — collectively known as harm reduction methods — among residents in recent years.
The increased awareness has coincided with a drop in emergency department visits. Admissions of overdose patients to the ER at Wilson Medical Center fell 36 percent from 2022 to 2025, according to DHHS data.
The grant used to buy and stock the kiosks came from the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, a multi-year initiative managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration.
In addition to paying for the five kiosks in Wilson County, the money allowed the coalition to buy four stations to place in nearby Edgecombe, Nash, Warren and Wayne counties. The total cost for the project was $10,000.
Carole Johnson, former administrator of the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, speaks during an event announcing a $2.9 million grant for the Wilson County Substance Prevention Coalition in September 2024.
The kiosk for Wayne County was presented to the local Health Department. Margaret Brake, the department’s director, said she will be meeting with community partners this month to determine where it should be placed.
“We like the idea that people will have 24-hour access to naloxone,” she said. “Particularly if it’s someone that’s homeless or struggling—they can get what they need when they need it. We’ve even talked about putting some canned goods in there, just to have some additional things the community can use.”
Mark Winstead, a pastor at Restoration Purpose Church in the small Nash County town of Bailey, is also trying to find a good site for his community’s kiosk. He described Bailey, which had a population of fewer than 600 people at the 2020 U.S. Census, as a place where “everybody knows everybody.”
“There’s still a stigma there,” Winstead said. “But if I can put something somewhere, and maybe it’s a well-known commissioner’s son who’s battling addiction and he can discreetly come get naloxone, then that’s what it’s all about.”
“You can’t treat somebody that’s dead,” he added. “We gotta be able to save their life first — and then we can work on the rest of it.”
BEAUFORT — The Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina, a nonprofit based in Wake County, plans to present awards to Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck, District Attorney Scott Thomas and his team for top efforts in the state to stop fentanyl traffickers.
A ceremony will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on April 12 at the Beaufort Train Depot to recognize Buck, Thomas, Assistant District Attorney David Spence and District Attorney Legal Assistant Michelle Gillikin.
Fentanyl victims and their families will also be recognized and the event is open to the public.
In addition, there will be guest speakers, including Brooke Barnhill with the Carteret County Department of Health and Human Services Post Overdose Response Team (PORT).
Fentanyl Victims Network Executive Director Barbara Walsh, whose daughter died after unintentionally ingesting fentanyl, said, “The Sheriff is receiving an award for having the most in NC of investigations and arrests of fentanyl traffickers who caused a death. This is not because Carteret has the highest rate of fentanyl fatalities in the state. It is because Sheriff Buck cares and allocates resources to find out what caused those deaths. He treats victims and their families with dignity and respect. Some sheriffs have zero arrests.”
She added that Thomas, Spence and Gillikin are receiving awards for the most prosecutions in NC of fentanyl traffickers who cause death, the Death by Distribution charge.
“Again, this is not because Carteret has the highest number of traffickers, it is because the DA believes in keeping the community safe,” she said.
During the ceremony, Walsh said each reward recipient will speak. The event will also feature naloxone training and distribution of free naloxone. Public safety education and prevention materials will be provided.
According to their website, The Fentanyl Victims Network is a nonpartisan, action-oriented statewide grassroots nonprofit that promotes public safety, education, justice, advocacy and support of NC fentanyl victim families in all 100 North Carolina counties. The Beaufort event will be the 28th public safety and education event hosted by the organization in North Carolina.
Other purposes of the group are to spark safety conversations about the dangers of illicit fentanyl, particularly counterfeit pressed pills, and to help provide access to life-saving naloxone in schools and communities. It’s also to connect NC Fentanyl Victim families for support and advocacy.
According to the organization, 18,594 NC residents were killed by fentanyl from 2013-23, and seven out of 10 street-pressed, copy-cat pills contain lethal fentanyl additives. The organization also provided a chart showing that from 2013-23 there were 168 fentanyl fatalities in Carteret County, with 29 Death by Distribution arrests.
In a joint statement about receiving the awards, Buck and Thomas said, “We have been working together as a team on all criminal matters since 2006 including the prescription drug issue which fueled the current heroin and fentanyl crisis we have faced in recent years. We have worked together to strictly prosecute drug offenders and we have supported treatment and recovery efforts to help people achieve recovery from their addictions and go on to live productive and healthy lives,” they stated
“We commend the tremendous work that has been done in the area of investigating overdose deaths and prosecuting these cases by Sheriff’s Office Detectives, other local police departments and the District Attorney’s Office prosecutors and legal staff. We are very proud of all of the work that has been done by these dedicated public servants investigating, prosecuting and holding accountable the offenders who have caused the deaths of citizens in our area. We hope our efforts have provided some sense of justice and closure to the families of these overdose victims.”
In addition, Buck and Thomas stated, “Everything we do should send a message to the public that we are working to address serious issues in our community and to let the criminal offenders know that we will not tolerate this type of activity and we seek to arrest, jail and prosecute them.”
For more information about the organization, go to Fentvic.org.
Contact Cheryl Burke at 252-726-7081, ext. 255; email Cheryl@thenewstimes.com; or follow on Twitter @cherylccnt.
March 10. By Dave Vieser. When North Carolina Governor Josh Stein delivers his first State of the State Address Wednesday evening, Cornelius resident Debbie Dalton will be recognized by the first-term governor. Dalton received the call from Stein’s office last week and she’s thrilled.
“There really aren’t words to describe how much this means to the Dalton family,” she said. “We are so grateful to Gov. Stein as well as all of Hunter’s friends who have been so supportive over the years.”
About the Dalton family
Debbie and her husband Randy lost their son Hunter, who was 23, to an accidental opioid overdose in 2016. Since then she has been dedicated to educating people about the dangers of opioids through the Hunter Dalton HD Life Foundation, which provides education about the dangers of recreational drugs as well as resources to prevent drug usage and death from overdoses.
When Stein was Attorney General, she received the Attorney General’s Dogwood Award which is given annually to honor North Carolinians who are dedicated to keeping people safe and healthy in their communities.
In North Carolina, the State of the State is given every two years during a joint session of the General Assembly in Raleigh.
It is held in the House chamber, as the Senate chamber is not large enough to fit everyone. There are 50 senators and 120 representatives in the House. The Council of State is there, too, as well as the N.C. Supreme Court and the N.C. Court of Appeals.
Barb Walsh, Executive Director, 919-614-3830 barb@fentvic.org. website: www.fentvic.org Fentanyl Victims Network of NC (fentvic.org), 501(c)(3) EIN 88-3921380
Local Co-Host: Lisa Bennett, Mother of Mason Bennett, Forever 22. Valued member of fentvc.org. Public safety, education & justice advocate. 229-873-5648 lisawbennett@me.com
Purpose
SAVE LIVES! Public Safety Education Prevention Tools + Naloxone Distribution & Training
Listen-Learn-Interview devastated fentanyl victim families. It could happen to anyone!
Spark public safety conversations about the dangers of illicit fentanyl, particularly counterfeit pressed pills (Adderall, Xanax, Percocet), and access to life-saving naloxone in schools and the community
Connect NC Fentanyl Victim Families to one another for support and advocacy.
A man holds a poster showing Wilson County residents who have died as a result of fentanyl. Families shared their stories outside the Wilson County Courthouse in September to bring awareness to the dangers of the drug. Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina will hold a town hall meeting in Wilson on Feb. 1 at the Foundation YMCA of Wilson. Drew C. Wilson | Times file photo
Event organizers are sounding the alarm on the fentanyl crisis that continues to claim lives. The Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina will hold a town hall meeting in Wilson from 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 1, at Foundation YMCA of Wilson at 233 Nash St.
The purpose of the event, organizers say, is to spark public safety conversations about the dangers of illicit fentanyl, particularly when it’s found in counterfeit pressed pills like Adderall, Xanax and Percocet.
Organizers will also be distributing naloxone, which goes by the brand name Narcan, and train those attending on how to administer the lifesaving antidote. Local families will also share their heart-wrenching stories of how their loved ones have died from fentanyl poisonings. The event is free and open to the public. No registration is required.
ADDRESSING THE ISSUE
Barb Walsh, founder of Fentanyl Victims Network, has been working with Wilson families who are reeling from the loss of their own children who have died as a result of unintentional fentanyl deaths. The hope, she said, is to bring awareness to a problem that is plaguing the country, the state and Wilson.
“This is a public safety problem we want to address,” Walsh said.
Walsh is holding several town halls throughout the state.
“I chose Wilson because there is a pocket of very active families,” Walsh said. “We have two death by distribution cases going on (in the court system).
Local elected officials, public health professionals, advocates, parents of fentanyl victims, first responders and representatives from the Wilson County Substance Prevention Coalition and the Wilson County district attorney’s office will be in attendance at the Feb. 1 town hall meeting. Local law enforcement members have also been invited, organizers said.
“I think it’s important for people to see these numbers and realize how many people are dying,” said Lisa Bennett, co-organizer of the event. Bennett lost her son, 22-year-old Mason Bennett, in February 2023. He died after taking what he believed was a Percocet, a prescription painkiller, but it was laced with fentanyl, she has said. Since her son’s death, Bennett has been working with Walsh and her nonprofit.
Walsh said 18,457 people in North Carolina have died as a result of fentanyl over a 10-year period.
From 2013 to October 2023, there have been 138 fentanyl deaths in Wilson County alone, according to state data Walsh has compiled.
SOUNDING THE ALARM
Walsh founded the Raleigh-based nonprofit after her daughter, Sophia Walsh, died from fentanyl poisoning in August 2021. Walsh’s daughter drank what she thought was a bottled water from someone’s refrigerator.
Unbeknownst to her, it contained diluted fentanyl. Sophia died, and no one called 911 until 10 hours later, Walsh said. No one was charged.
“We didn’t know what she died from until five months later,” Walsh said.
After her daughter’s death, Walsh channeled her grief into research, advocacy and justice for other victims. Walsh has worked across the state to bring awareness to the dangers of fentanyl and has worked with families to demand justice in their cases by utilizing state law and getting those responsible charged.
‘IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOUR CHILD’
Walsh said there’s a misconception about fentanyl deaths. She said not all deaths are the result of someone in active addiction. Some people are simply experimenting.
Seven out of 10 “street” pressed copycat pills contain lethal fentanyl additives, according to officials.
Fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, is a synthetic opioid that can be lethal even in small doses.
“It could happen to your child,” Walsh said. “The pressed pills are the culprit.”
Organizers hope to educate families and encourage parents to talk with their children about the dangers that are out there.
“If we can stop just one family from having to go through this it will be worth it,” Bennett said.
Bennett said more lives will be saved if more people are armed with Narcan.
“They cannot save themselves,” Walsh said. “Someone in the community will have to save them.”
For more information about Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina visit www.fentvic.org.
Barb Walsh, Executive Director of Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina, fights to save lives and get justice for those killed by fentanyl poisoning. Joining Barb in the fight are Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina members Michelle Murdock and Betsy Ballard Moore.
There are two episodes being aired, Part 1 is airing January 11th, Part 2 will air one week later, January 18.
Skateboard wheels skid in front of Sadie’s home, scraping, squeaking, then moving on. She paces between the porch rails, trying to peek at the face below the rider’s floppy hair.
Gwyneth Brown holds a photo of her son, Laird Ramirez, a 17-year-old Mecklenburg highschoolerwho died last July after taking a pressed pill that disguised fentanyl as a Percocet, his parents said. MELISSA MELVIN-RODRIGUEZ mrodriguez@charlotteobserver.com
Is it Laird? Looks like Laird. Sounds like him, too, Gwyneth Brown imagines Sadie, her panting, shedding German Shepherd, is thinking.
“I’m with Sadie on this one,” said Brown. “I’m still waiting for him to come home.”
The pair have been waiting more than a year for one of the skaters to kick up their board and walk up the front steps. They never do. It’s never Laird.
Laird Ramirez, a 17-year-old Mecklenburg highschooler, skateboarder and wrestler, died last July after taking a pressed pill that disguised fentanyl — a lethal synthetic opioid — as a Percocet, his parents said.
The Charlotte Observer reported a year ago on accounts from parents and students of how those $7 pills infiltrated Hough High School and how drug incidents inside Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools reached a 10-year high amidst Laird’s death.
Justice, Brown said, did not follow in his wake. While law enforcement and prosecutors say they’re aggressively going after people whose drugs lead to an overdose or fentanyl poisoning, some families say they haven’t seen that — and they’re searching for ways to cope once court dates pass.
Mecklenburg death by distribution cases
A man who was 21 in July 2023 was accused of selling Laird fentanyl and charged with death by distribution.
Brown says there was video footage of that drug deal. She says the drugs captured on camera killed her son. Half a pill was still in his wallet when police returned it to her.
