On September 25, 1993 Barbara Walsh sat down with the DEA for an interview. The DEA was interested in hearing Barbara’s story about how Sophia died and how Barbara came to start the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina.
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Two new North Carolina laws change fentanyl fines, concealed carry rules
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Dozens of new laws are now in effect in North Carolina as of Dec 1.
Some deal with stricter fines for drug traffickers, while others deal with election law. WECT News took a closer look at two of them.
Senate Bill 41
Part of Senate Bill 41, introduced by State Senator Danny Britt Jr., is now in effect in North Carolina. The part of the law now in effect allows concealed carry permit holders to bring firearms to places of worship that also have schools.
See WECT web site for remainder of their conent regarding Senate Bill 41.
Senate Bill 189
โAn act to increase the fine imposed on persons convicted of trafficking in heroin, fentanyl, or carfentanilโ will increase the fines for people convicted of drug trafficking who have between 4-14 grams of the substance on them.
The fine increase is from $50,000 to $500,000. Thatโs a 900% increase.
Barbara Walsh lost her daughter, Sophia, to fentanyl poisoning at just 24 years old. Sophia died after drinking fentanyl from a glass of water, but the family didnโt find that out until months after her death.
Walsh says she hopes the new law with an increased fine will be enough to curb traffickers from selling or distributing the lethal drug.
โI think that is a deterrent for people to think twice about trafficking fentanyl, and maybe it will save somebodyโs life,โ Walsh said.
While the new law canโt bring back her daughter, she hopes it could save othersโ lives in the future.
โWeโre paying it forward for unfortunately the eight people who die every day from fentanyl in North Carolina,โ Walsh said.
The DEA reports that just one gram of fentanyl can kill 500 people.
Walsh founded the non-profit, Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina, after her daughterโs death. She works with families across the state who have lost a loved one to fentanyl and encourages those who want support to join.
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Families hope new NC law could bring justice for fentanyl deaths
GASTONIA, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) โ There are a lot of families hurting in North Carolina.
The state has seen 16,000 killed from fentanyl this year through July alone, according to the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina.
Thatโs 16,000 families missing a loved one because of a growing nationwide fentanyl epidemic. Tracy Sauderson-Ross wishes she would have been home back on Sept. 26, 2022, when her 16-year-old daughter, Abi, was dealing with leg pain and Abiโs boyfriend tried to help.
โHe decided to call a buddy of his to get a Percocet,โ described Saunderson-Ross. โShe took half of the Percocet, it was a bar, and it was 36 nanograms of fentanyl, and she passed away in the middle of the night.โย
Marshall Abbott was out with friends on June 30, 2022, the day before his 30th birthday. A friend he was with bought something. The family still doesnโt know what it was, but they know a loving father didnโt wake up.
โMarshall had 72 nanograms of fentanyl in his system,โ said Elizabeth Abernathy. โHe didnโt stand a chance. He was gone before he even crawled into the bed.โย
Continue reading “Families hope new NC law could bring justice for fentanyl deaths”Woman charged with felony in North Carolina overdose death, officials say
HENDERSON COUNTY, N.C.
A North Carolina woman faces charges for the death of another person, but no weapon or violent act was involved.
The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that Heather Marie Maybin, 37, of Hendersonville, was charged Monday with felony death by distribution.
Officials said the charge is a result of an overdose death that happened on Feb. 7, but did not release the name of the victim.
“The months-long investigation revealed Maybin as the source of supply Fentanyl that resulted in the death of at least one individual,” officials said.
They said Maybin is being held at the Henderson County Detention Center on a $75,000.00 bond.
More than two dozen people charged in North Carolina drug trafficking conspiracy, officials say
A federal indictment was unsealed yesterday charging 25 defendants in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy, according to Middle District of North Carolina United States Attorney Sandra J. Hairston.
The indictment, which followed a two-year investigation, charges the individuals involved with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine hydrochloride in multiple counties in North Carolina, including Guilford, Randolph, Durham, and Montgomery counties.
If convicted, individual defendants face penalties ranging from up to 20 years, five years to 40 years, or 10 years to life, for narcotics conspiracy, distribution and possession with intent to distribute โ depending on the drug amounts involved in the offenses.
You can read the article and watch the video on the WXII 12 News website.
Father, son charged after 2-plus pounds of fentanyl found during Lee County traffic stop
SANFORD, N.C. (WNCN) โ A father and son were arrested and charged with trafficking opioids after a traffic stop Thursday.
Lee County sheriffโs deputies made the traffic stop on Greenwood Road which is about 8 miles south of Sanford as part of an active drug investigation, the sheriffโs office said.
Deputies found about 2.2 pounds of fentanyl in the vehicle, according to the sheriffโs office.
Robert Bernard Fox Sr., 54, and his son, Robert Bernard Fox II, 23, were arrested and both charged with the following:
- Trafficking Opioid by Transport,
- Trafficking Opioid by Possession,
- Possess with Intent to Sell and Deliver Schedule II Controlled Substance,
- Maintaining a Vehicle for the Sale of Narcotics, and
- Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
The pair were brought before a Lee County Magistrate and were issued $250,000 secured bonds.
As a result of this traffic stop, narcotics agents, assisted by the Sanford Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, executed a search warrant in the 800 block of McKenzie Park Drive.
During the search warrant, agents found Shondell Rasheed Bethea, 25, inside the residence.
Bethea was wanted for failing to appear in court on charges of possessing with intent to sell and deliver methamphetamine, larceny of a motor vehicle, and two counts of breaking and entering.
Bethea was found to be in possession of two firearms, one of which was entered stolen by the Sanford Police Department, the sheriffโs office said.
Continue reading “Father, son charged after 2-plus pounds of fentanyl found during Lee County traffic stop”‘No cap’: CMPD’s new fentanyl awareness campaign uses slang to reach young people
Fentanyl overdose deaths are up 20% from last year, police say. CMPD’s new campaign hopes to reach younger people through slang used by teens.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. โ Charlotte-Mecklenburg police launched a new fentanyl awareness campaign Thursday called, “No Cap, Those Pills are Sus,” designed to reduce overdose deaths that have been labeled a crisis in the Charlotte area.
The campaign’s name uses slang in an effort to target young people and their families, according to CMPD. The main goal of this campaign is toย prevent overdose deathsย through education with younger people who are unaware of the risks of fentanyl. CMPD says it has seen a 20% increase in confirmed fentanyl overdoses this year compared to 2022. The majority of those deaths (60%) are people who were younger than 40.ย
Fentvic.org presentation to Wake Overdose Coalition
On November 1, 2023 Barbara Walsh presented the history and mission of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina to the Wake County Overdose Coalition.
Watch Barbara’s presentation on YouTube:
A UNC student OD’d on Duke campus, and it took a student journalist to bring the story to light
On March 9, 2023, a freshman from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill overdosed on fentanyl outside a Duke University dorm.
She died in a hospital two days later, surrounded by family and friends, according to her obituary.
Very few people knew about her death, until a Duke student journalist started investigating, learning that 19-year-old Grace Burton wasnโt the only UNC student or alum to recently die from fentanyl poisoning.
She wasnโt even the only one to lose her life to an overdose that week. Now federal agents say the same person supplied the drugs to both students.
Duke student and journalist Charlotte Kramon heard about Burtonโs on-campus death and figured more information would come out publicly.
But, she says, โThere was no announcement; there were very few people outside of some of those who were close to the situation that knew.โ
Kramon started looking into the death and charges related to it, publishing her findings along with co-author Michael Hewlett in the online magazine The Assembly.
Continue reading “A UNC student OD’d on Duke campus, and it took a student journalist to bring the story to light”Fentanyl family summit allows loved ones to heal and connect
12 hours ago Connor Doherty
CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WWAY) โ Since 2013, over 15,000 North Carolinians have died from fentanyl poisoning, with 886 of those deaths occurring in the Cape Fear.
To spread awareness and help families heal, the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina held its 3rd Family Summit of 2023 in Carolina Beach, with the previous 2 having been held in Raleigh and Boone.
More than a dozen families came out for the summit to learn more about what they can do to continue fighting for their loved ones to receive justice.
Additionally, several parents and siblings shared their stories of what happened to their loved ones.
The networkโs executive director Barb Walsh lost her daughter Sophia to fentanyl poisoning after she unintentionally drank a contaminated bottle of water.
Walsh said being able to learn more about fentanyl helped her and will also help the families of itโs victims.
โI went down into a black hole like all these families do and it takes a while and some people never come back out,โ Walsh said. โBut when I did, I knew that I needed to know more about fentanyl, I needed to learn about the laws and many of these families helped get this law passed.โ
Walsh was glad to see so many families come to the summit as Sophiaโs death is what drove her to join the Fentanyl Victims Network.
โThis is very healing, itโs healing for me to be able to help other families.โ
Kami Perez lost her daughter after she took a xanax pill given to her that had more than 13 milligrams of fentanyl in it.
While this was Perezโ first summit, she hopes to be able to help other families when they come to future summits.
โI want to be able to be that voice for her and to others who may also be a victim as well, because they donโt have any voices, they canโt have that voice anymore,โ Perez said. โSo Iโm standing in the gap for them to be that advocate, to be able to bring more attention to, I feel like, is an epidemic.โ
North Carolina recently passed Senate Bill 189, which strengthens penalties for individuals found guilty of distributing controlled substances which result in a fatal overdose. Two individuals in the Cape Fear have been charged with death by distribution since the bill was passed.
Read full article and watch the video on the WWAYTV3 website.