HIGH POINT, N.C. โ Two men have been arrested and charged by High Point police in separate death by distribution cases recently, HPPD said.
Tyler S. Hazelwood, 34, was arrested for the 2024 drug overdose that killed a 29-year-old man, according to police.
Hazelwood was charged with felony death by distribution and felony possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver a schedule II controlled substance.
He is being held on a $500,000 bond.
In a separate case, police arrested Abdullah Kindle, 38, for another overdose that killed a 29-year-old man, police said.
Police said officers delivered naloxone to the victim and tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead on the scene.
Kindle was charged with felony death by distribution and felony possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver a schedule II controlled substance.
HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) โ Two men have been arrested and charged in two separate death by distribution cases, according to the High Point Police Department.
On Thursday, Tyler Shane Hazelwood, 34, of Rural Hall, was arrested in connection with the January 2024 fatal drug overdose of a 29-year-old man found dead inside a home on Middlewood Court.
Hazelwood was charged with felony death by distribution and possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver schedule II controlled substance. His bond was set at $500,000.
In June, Abdullah Kindle, 38, of High Point, was arrested in connection with a separate death by distribution case regarding the fatal overdose of a 29-year-old man at a home on East Green Drive. Kindle was arrested on July 28.
Kindle remains in the Guilford County Jail with a $2 million bond.
A Wilson man received more than five years in prison after pleading guilty in the countyโs first death by distribution case, following the fentanyl overdose death of a 25-year-old Navy veteran.
A Wilson man was sentenced Monday to an active term in state prison after pleading guilty to the first death by distribution case to be adjudicated in Wilson County.
Tabron Tyrone Farmer, 35, of the 5100 block of Wilson Road, made an Alford plea July 29 to death by distribution in the June 25, 2023, death of 25-year-old Shade Izayah Anthonee Staples. An Alford plea is an arrangement in which the defendant doesnโt admit guilt but acknowledges there is likely enough evidence to ensure a conviction
In Wilson County Criminal Superior Court on Monday, Resident Superior Court Judge L. Lamont Wiggins sentenced Farmer to a minimum of five years and seven months to a maximum of seven years and nine months active in the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections.
Farmer is the first person to be sentenced in Wilson in a death by distribution case since modifications in the death by distribution law were ratified in September 2023, providing for stiffer sentences for defendants who unlawfully deliver certain controlled substances that proximately cause a personโs death.
Assistant District Attorney Kristen Spainhour told the court that on the date of his death Staples had consumed three beers at Brewmasters at lunchtime, at which time he called Farmer asking to purchase Percocet pills.
Spainhour said Staples walked to a nearby store to meet Farmer. Staples purchased two blue pills from Farmer. Spainhour said the transaction was captured on video, adding he thought he was purchasing Percocet.
Spainhour told the court that the defendant called the victim shortly thereafter saying that he thought he had given him the wrong package, that he โthought he messed up.โ
At 2:22 p.m. on the date of his death, family members noticed that Staplesโ speech was slurred while he was playing a video game with his sister, Spainhour said. Staples โslumped over on the couchโ and was not moving and his eyes had rolled back, Spainhour told the court.
First responders could not revive Staples despite giving him the overdose reversal medication naloxone.
Spainhour said fentanyl was determined to be the cause of death.
Spainhour said the victimโs family was โdevastatedโ by the loss.
Defense attorney Andrew Boyd told the court that his client pleaded guilty as a result of a plea arrangement in which lesser charges were dismissed.
Boyd told the court that Farmer has 12 children, is married and that his wife was in court for the sentencing.
โThere is nothing we could say that would bring Shade Staples back,โ Boyd said.
Farmer was ordered to pay $2,975 in counsel fees to attorney Boyd.
Wiggins revoked Farmerโs bond and ordered him taken into custody.
STAPLES A NAVY VETERAN
After the sentencing, Staplesโ mother, Taira Gandarilla, formerly of Wilson and now residing in Knightdale, told the Times that her son was a Navy veteran.
โIt is kind of bittersweet,โ Gandarilla said. โRegardless of the outcome, itโs not going to bring Shade back, but it is very rewarding as a mother to know that even though my son sacrificed his life, we can definitely prevent somebody else from losing their life as a result of this young manโs carelessness.โ
Gandarilla said it was comforting to her that other parents of Fentanyl overdose victims were in the courtroom at the time of the sentencing.
Ten families of Wilson County fentanyl overdose victims were present in the court for Mondayโs hearing.
Gandarilla said that until Monday, she did not know this group existed.
โYou guys didnโt know me from Sunday, and to know that I already have a family is incredibly comforting,โ Gandarilla said. โYou can go through therapy all day long, but the best therapy is to go through it with people who have walked in your shoes. We have than commonality that is going to forever bond us.โ
Gandarilla said her son was โfirst and foremost a brother.โ
โShade absolutely coveted the relationship that he had with his sisters. He was the oldest of four siblings. He had three younger sisters, and those were his girls. He was incredibly family oriented. He was an old soul. For a 25-year-old man, he literally saw the world differently than anybody else I had ever met. He just saw things from a different lens. He was always asking questions. He wanted to learn as much as possible every single day.โ
Two other death by distribution cases are pending in Wilson County.
Wilson County has had 151 fentanyl fatalities since 2013, according to Barb Walsh of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina. She was with parents of overdose victims who were at the courthouse.
RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) โ Two women have been indicted after a child died by overdose, according to authorities.
The Randolph County Sheriffโs Office says they were called to a home in Asheboro in May about a juvenile overdose. EMS and fire personnel were already on scene performing life-saving measures when deputies arrived to assist, and the victim was taken to a hospital. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Investigators found drug paraphernalia at the home and sought charges against the victimโs mother, Carrie Jo Graves, 36, and Amy Lee Locklear, 42.
The two women were both indicted by a grand jury in July. Graves was indicted for second-degree murder without regard, and Locklear was indicted for felony involuntary manslaughter.
On July 31, deputies traveled to Robeson and Cumberland Counties to take the two into custody.
Both Graves and Locklear were already wanted for failing to appear in Cumberland County, and Locklear had an additional arrest order for failing to appear in Robeson County.
Graves was taken into custody in Parkton without incident and transported back to Randolph County. She was given no bond.
Locklear was taken into custody in Saint Pauls and brought back to Randolph County. She was given a $362,000 secured bond for the various charges.
On May 11, 2024, the Randolph County Sheriffโs Office responded to King Mountain Rd., Asheboro, in reference to a juvenile overdose/cardiac arrest. Deputies assisted EMS and fire personnel, who were already on scene performing life-saving measures on a juvenile victim. The victim was then transported to an area hospital, where the victim was pronounced deceased a short time later.
While gathering information about the incident, paraphernalia for Narcotic purposes was observed. Detectives with Criminal Investigations and Crime Scene responded to collect any evidence for further investigation.
Following the investigation, charges were sought against Carrie Jo Graves (mother of the juvenile) and Amy Lee Locklear.
During the July session of the Randolph County Grand Jury, a true bill of indictment was issued on Graves for felony second-degree murder without regard, and a true bill of indictment was issued on Locklear for felony involuntary manslaughter. This indictment was issued as a result of the investigation.
On July 31, 2025, the Criminal Apprehension Team and others traveled to Robeson and Cumberland Counties in an attempt to locate and apprehend Graves and Locklear.
Graves also had an order for arrest out of Cumberland County for failing to appear on a misdemeanor.
Locklear had an order for arrest for failing to appear on a felony in Robeson County and an order for arrest for failing to appear on a felony, as well as an additional failure to appear on a misdemeanor, both in Cumberland County.
Graves was apprehended at a residence on Tawdry Ln., Parkton, NC, without incident. She was subsequently transported to the Randolph County Detention Center, where she was taken before the magistrate, who issued a first appearance of August 1, 2025, in Randolph County District Court with no bond being set due to the nature of the charges, as well as a first appearance of August 8, 2025, with a $1,000 secured bond in the Cumberland County case.
Locklear was apprehended at a residence located on King Tuck Rd., Saint Pauls, NC, without incident and was subsequently transported to the Randolph County Detention Center, where the magistrate issued a first appearance of August 11, 2025, and a secured bond of $350,000 in the Randolph County case; a first appearance of August 29, 2025, with $7,000 secured in Cumberland County; and lastly a first appearance of August 20, 2025, and a secured bond of $5,000 in Robeson County for a total secured bond of $362,000.
A man from Henderson was sentenced to 16 years in prison for selling fentanyl to a person who later died of an overdose in Cary. imaginima Getty Images
A North Carolina man whose distribution of fentanyl contributed to a fatal overdose in a Cary hotel has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison, the Department of Justice announced Friday.
Keymon Leahke Cofield, 25, of Vance County pleaded guilty in April to distributing fentanyl and heroin, along with possession with intent to distribute. The investigation that led to his arrest began on June 13, 2020, when Cary police responding to a suspected overdose at a local hotel found a 35-year-old man dead with 50 bindles of suspected fentanyl and heroin, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina said.
Officials traced the fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, to Cofield, who was 20 at the time. They determined he had traveled south from the small city of Henderson to Cary to sell drugs. An undercover investigation that summer culminated in Cofieldโs arrest. Authorities seized 651 bindles of suspected fentanyl and heroin, and a search of Cofieldโs phone showed photos of firearms and large amounts of cash.
The Department of Justice listed Cofieldโs nicknames as โKeymoneyโ and โBoi Fat.โ
Cary and North Carolina overall have seen increases in opioid incidents this century. Statewide, opioid overdose fatalities rose 800% between 1999 and 2016 โ from around 100 deaths to 1,300. Cary reported 11 on-the-scene opioid overdose deaths in 2017 and the same number in 2020, the year of Cofieldโs arrest. In 2018, Cary launched an Opioid Wastewater Project pilot program that sought to measure opioid consumption not by overdoses but by the concentration of opioids in sewage samples. Ten locations around the town of 170,000 were selected.
Town officials sought a new gauge for opioid use after observing deliveries of Narcan โ a medication that can reverse the impacts of opioid overdoses โ exceeded actual reports of overdoses.
In 2022, Cary reported 118 opioid-related incidents, a higher total than in any of the previous five years. That year, Cary received $928,360 from the North Carolina Department of Justice as part of national settlement agreements with opioid companies.
