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University of Houston Fentanyl Vaccine is a Potential Game Changer
Davidson County Sheriff’s Office Press Release
RCSO charges woman with death by distribution in overdose death
Read the original article on the Richmond Observer website.
ROCKINGHAM — Investigators have charged a woman in a late 2024 overdose death.
Sarah Alexis McCumbee, 27, was arrested late Thursday on charges of death by distribution and selling or delivering a Schedule II controlled substance.
McCumbee is accused of delivering an unspecified quantity of fentanyl to Sean McDonald on or around Nov. 14, 2024. The ingestion of the fentanyl, according to the arrest warrant, “proximately caused” McDonald’s death.
The warrant, taken out by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, was issued April 21 and McCumbee was arrested April 24.
She is being held without bond in the Richmond County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court May 8.
North Carolina’s death by distribution law was signed into law in 2019, with support from both of the county’s legislative representatives in the General Assembly at the time.
The RCSO charged Regina Collins with death by distribution in January of 2020. State records show Collins was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in August of that year and she served seven months in prison. Her parole ended Feb. 14, 2022.
In 2022, the Hamlet Police Department issued a BOLO for a suspect in a death by distribution case. However, police told the RO on Friday that the charge was dismissed by the district attorney’s office based on further investigation.
Earlier this week, a woman in Greensboro was convicted of death by distribution and other drug charges from a 2022 case.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Two Men Charged with Death by Distribution Pursuant to OD Death
Gloucester man sentenced over 8 years for fentanyl distribution in girlfriend’s death
Read the original article on the WCTI News12 website.
After a four-day trial in Carteret County Superior Court, District Attorney Scott Thomas and Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck announced that Hugh Crandall Willis, Jr. of Gloucester, was convicted by a jury for his role in the death of his girlfriend, Bethany JoAlison Styron, 25 of Davis.
Willis was convicted of the following:
- Death by Distribution of Fentanyl
- Sale and Delivery of Fentanyl
- Felonious Possession of Fentanyl
Willis was sentenced to an active sentence of 78-106 months in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, followed by a 6-8 month suspended sentence for 36 months of supervised probation, according to officials.
The following is a release from the State of North Carolina General Court of Justice, Prosecutorial District Four:
During the early evening hours of July 30, 2022, Styron, who was with a friend at the time, pulled into a gas station at the corner of Highway 101 and Steel Tank Road in Carteret County.
After more than an hour sitting at the pump, Styron stopped breathing. Her friend called 911 and EMS pronounced Styron dead. Her cause of death was later confirmed to be from acute Fentanyl toxicity. After a thorough investigation into Styron’s death, Detectives uncovered that late in the day on July 28, 2022, Willis came to the Styron residence and delivered a quantity of Fentanyl to Styron and her friend that was with her during the time when she overdosed. The pair mixed the drugs purchased from Willis into a bag of drugs they had purchased earlier in Kinston. Styron purchased those narcotics on the way home from a weeklong medical inpatient stay at UNCChapel Hill hospital where she was treated for pneumonia, cardiac problems and complications of Hyper IGE Syndrome. Styron used and overdosed on the last amounts of the drugs in that mixture.
In October of 2022, Detectives reached a point in their investigation to charge Willis with the Sale and Distribution of Fentanyl and received an arrest warrant for that charge. When Deputies arrived at Willis’ home to serve him with that warrant and arrest him, Willis was found in possession of more of what was confirmed by the state lab as Fentanyl.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney David L. Spence, the lead detective in the case was Joseph (Cory) Bishop of the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office. The State presented 14 witnesses and 37 exhibits of evidence. The Defendant did not present any evidence. Resident Superior Court Judge Augustus Willis presided over the trial.
Raleigh Fentanyl Trafficker Sentenced to More Than 23 Years in Prison
RALEIGH, N.C. – A Wake County man was sentenced today to more than 23 years (283 months) in prison on drug charges. Myquan Taquil Houston, aka “Dirty,” pled guilty on January 13, 2025, to the offenses of conspiracy to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a substance containing fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a substance containing fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine.
According to court documents and other information presented in court, Houston conspired with another person to sell fentanyl to a confidential informant on five occasions in Raleigh. Law enforcement searched Houston’s house in Knightdale, North Carolina on July 26, 2023. The search revealed 502.29 grams of cocaine, 41.54 grams of cocaine base (crack), 134.46 grams of fentanyl and ANPP, 26.6 grams of Oxycodone, digital scales, a loaded .45 caliber handgun, two cellphones, and $7,970 in U.S. currency. The investigation determined that Houston sold approximately $1,400 of fentanyl every other week for at least a year prior to his arrest, making him responsible for 1,590.46 grams of fentanyl and 635.1 grams of cocaine.
Houston has prior convictions for felony breaking and entering and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine and a quantity of cocaine base (crack), distribution of a quantity of cocaine, and aiding and abetting. Houston was on federal supervised release in the Eastern District of North Carolina at the time of these offenses.
Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Raleigh Police Department investigated the case and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Aria Q. Merle prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:24-CR-00238.
What you should know on crime victims’ rights
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Deadly drug overdose leads to arrest in Currituck County
Read the original article on the Norfolk 13NewsNow website.
An extensive investigation into a fatal drug overdose led to the arrest of James Hasty.
CURRITUCK COUNTY, N.C. — A deadly drug overdose has led to an arrest in Currituck County, the sheriff’s office announced.
Nearly a year ago on April 26, 2024, deputies responded to the overdose death of Raven Massey on Taylors Road, not far from Route 168.
An extensive investigation led to the arrest of James Hasty on Monday. He was charged with death by distribution.
Hasty is being held without bond at the Currituck County Jail.
Fentanyl Victims Network of NC honors families, leaders who fight fentanyl traffickers
Read the original article on the Carolina Coast Online website.
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.
For more information, visit www.fentvic.org or email info@fentvic.org to connect with local fentanyl victim families.