The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office has charged a man in connection with a fatal overdose that happened a year and a half ago.
According to Sheriff Danny Rogers, detectives with the Major Crimes Investigative Unit arrested 31-year-old Dylan Wayne Brown on Monday, Nov. 24, following what the department described as an extensive investigation into the April 2024 death of 41-year-old Roger Lee Brown Jr.
On April 29 of last year, deputies responded to 6012 Laurel Knoll Drive in Pleasant Garden for a reported overdose. While deputies were on the way, Guilford County Emergency Services pronounced Roger Lee Brown Jr. deceased at the scene.
Investigators said the case moved forward with assistance from the NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office.
Detectives ultimately charged Dylan Wayne Brown (pictured above) with Felony Death by Distribution.
Brown is currently being held in the Guilford County Detention Center in Greensboro under a $100,000 secured bond. His first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, at 2 p.m.
The Sheriff’s Department said the investigation remains ongoing and added that there’s no additional information available at this time.
Anyone with information related to the case is being urged to contact Detective J. Allen at 336-641-2799 or Guilford County Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000.
GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A suspect has been arrested after allegedly supplying drugs to a man who overdosed, according to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office.
On Monday, deputies arrested Dylan Wayne Brown, 31, on a charge of felony death by distribution in connection with the death of 41-year-old Roger Lee Brown Jr.
Brown Jr. died on April 29, 2024. Deputies had responded to the 6000 block of Laurel Knoll Drive in Pleasant Garden regarding a reported overdose. The sheriff’s office says Guilford County Emergency Services pronounced him dead en route.
Brown Jr. is being held under a $100,000 secured bond.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective J. Allen at (336) 641-2799 or Guilford County Crime Stoppers at (336) 373-1000.
PLEASANT GARDEN, N.C. — A 31-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with a fatal 2024 overdose, according to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said Dylan Wayne Brown was taken into custody Monday following what they described as an extensive investigation by the department’s Major Crimes Investigative Unit.
The case dates back to April 29, 2024, when deputies responded to an overdose call on Laurel Knoll Drive in Pleasant Garden. Guilford County EMS pronounced 41-year-old Roger Lee Brown Jr. dead while crews were on the way to the home, according to the release.
Investigators have charged Brown with felony death by distribution. He is being held in the Guilford County Detention Center in Greensboro under a $100,000 secured bond. His first court appearance is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective J. Allen at 336-641-2799 or submit an anonymous tip through Guilford County Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000.Close Ad
Three Clinton-area men are behind bars this afternoon, facing a multitude of drug charges related to an ongoing death investigation involving a 49-year-old woman believed to have died from a suspected fentanyl overdose.
Dustin Millen
Warrants were issued Tuesday for James Bradford, 38, 1200 Taylors Bridge Hwy., Clinton, Dustin Millen, 37, 1200 Taylors Bridget Hwy., Clinton, and Benjamin Rackley, 43, of 50 Quarterhorse Lane, Clinton, with Bradford being taken into custody Tuesday, Nov. 18, and Miller and Rackley jailed earlier today, Nov. 20.
Miller is facing charges of trafficking in Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl), possession methamphetamine, maintaining a dwelling for the use or sale of a controlled substance, sell or delivery of a Schedule II controlled substance, conspiracy to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Benjamin Rackley
According to Sampson County Sheriff’s reports, Bradford was charged with trafficking in a Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl), possession of methamphetamine, maintaining a dwelling for the use or sale of a controlled substance, possession of stolen property and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Rackley, reports show, was charged with maintaining a dwelling for the use or sale of a controlled substance, sell or deliver of a Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl), conspiracy to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
James Bradford
The arrests come on the heels of a joint operation between the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division, the Special Investigation Division, the Uniform Patrol Division, the Criminal Interdiction Team and the Animal Control unit.
Sampson County Sheriff’s Capt. Marcus Smith noted in a release that a series of three search warrants were issued as a result of that operation, followed by the arrest of the three individuals.
The warrants were obtained, he said, as part of an ongoing probe into the 49-year-old Clinton woman’s death on Nov. 18, one suspected to be tied to a fentanyl overdose.
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – A Leland man has pleaded guilty to charges involving a fatal overdose in 2022.
42-year-old William McKinley Huckaby pleaded guilty to death by distribution and attempted trafficking in methamphetamine, according to a release from the District Attorney’s Office.
James Ray Lewis, 42, died from fentanyl toxicity on June 24, 2022. Investigators from the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office discovered a syringe and other drug paraphernalia near his body, which suggested fentanyl ingestion.
Detectives later discovered text messages between the two men. In one message, Huckaby encouraged Lewis to steal vacuums from a retailer in exchange for drugs, according to authorities.
The other messages also indicate that Huckaby had previously profited from tools Lewis stole in exchange for drugs, according to the DA’s Office.
Law enforcement claimed that Huckaby had roughly 26 grams of methamphetamine and a dosage unit of fentanyl on him when he was arrested.
“William Huckaby encouraged those severely addicted to opioids to steal merchandise for him with the promise of fentanyl for payment,” District Attorney Jason W. Smith said. “Huckaby’s exploitation of the addicted represents why our lawmakers enacted the Death by Distribution law. In many instances, severe addiction disrupts the decision-making parts of the brain, and those who profit while exploiting this addiction will be sent to prison.”
Huckaby was sentenced to 76 to 104 months in prison and 2 years in the residential recovery program TROSA afterward.
CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – After losing her 26-year-old son, Tyler Dees, to fentanyl in 2022, Annie Brown of Carteret County has turned unimaginable grief into a powerful mission of hope and healing for others battling addiction.
Dees, a Carteret County native, was known for his love of fishing, making lures, and spending time with friends and family. His mother says his death came after years of struggling with mental health issues.
“I got the call the next day from his dad that he was gone,” Brown said. “I knew he was going to pass away before I moved back from California, I just didn’t know it would happen right before the holidays. He’s at peace right now with all the demons he was battling. He was diagnosed at a very early age with depression.”
Brown says her son’s death was not an isolated tragedy.
Supplies, such as the medications naloxone and buprenorphine, carried by Buncombe County community paramedics on the post-overdose response team. Credit: Courtesy of Justin Hall
By Rachel Crumpler
A life lost in Buncombe County in 2022 still weighs on — and motivates — Shuchin Shukla, a family physician who specializes in addiction medicine.
A community paramedic had responded to an overdose involving a person recently released from jail. After reviving them, the paramedic told the patient about a soon-to-launch program that would start people on a medication used to treat opioid addiction after an overdose.
Soon after, the person used again, experienced a second overdose and went into cardiac arrest. They later died at the hospital.
“For the team working on this, the case hit home that every moment of every day matters for patients. At any minute, they’re at risk of dying or having an overdose,” Shukla said. “That’s how critical this is.”
For months, Shukla had been working with Buncombe County Emergency Medical Services to launch Buncombe Bridge to Care, a project to equip paramedics to administer buprenorphine — a medication proven to ease opioid withdrawal symptoms, reduce cravings and support long-term recovery for people with opioid use disorder —when responding to overdoses or others in the community struggling with addiction.
Delesha Carpenter’s personal tragedy has fueled her mission to combat opioid overdoses through increased naloxone access. Her new website with UNC maps naloxone availability across NC’s 100 counties.
Delesha Carpenter began her career as a researcher focused on pediatrics. A little over seven years ago, her path took an unexpected turn following the deaths of two close friends.
“A lot of people who get into this field, it’s personal,” Carpenter said. “I lost two friends within two weeks of each other to opioid overdoses. That really inspired me to increase access to naloxone.”
The researcher and professor with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy recently launched NalxoneNearMe.org. The website features an interactive map of all 100 North Carolina counties, rating them based on the number of naloxone distribution services available.
Durham County is tied with Mecklenburg County as the highest rated counties on the map with a score of 88. Wake County wasn’t far behind with a score of 77.
Carpenter told WRAL the Naloxone Availability Scores are based on the level of availability of no-cost naloxone and pharmacies that sell naloxone in each county.
Naloxone distribution resources are categorized into 14 types, including syringe service programs, EMS, harm reduction organizations, health departments, pharmacies and healthcare providers.
“The highest score a county can receive is 100, which would mean that all 14 naloxone sources included in the Naloxone Availability Score are present in that county,” Carpenter explained. “If a county had one harm reduction program in the county, they would get the same amount of ‘credit’ toward the score as a county that had two or three reduction programs.”
Increased naloxone use and availability are among the efforts researchers say have contributed to a reduction in opioid overdose deaths in recent years.
“One thing is everybody’s life is worth saving. It is important to carry naloxone, especially if you’re going to be in situations where people are going to be using drugs, you never know what is in the drugs that you’re using,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter said increasing the availability of medications for opioid use, such as buprenorphine and methadone, would also help reduce overdose fatalities.
“Other resources that people should be aware of, and one that’s linked on our website, is Naloxone Saves. Ours tells you what types of sources are available, but you can go to the Naloxone Saves website and find the actual pharmacies that carry and stock naloxone, or find your health department and whether it’s distributing naloxone,” Carpenter added.
Naloxone will not harm someone who hasn’t taken an opioid, so it is recommended even when it is unclear what kind of drug a person has taken.
More than one dose may be needed because some opioids, like fentanyl, can take a stronger hold on the opioid receptors.
