More than a year after his death, police arrested 32-year-old Brian Jones in connection with the case in August 2025. Burdine’s family is back in court as the case moves forward.
The Havelock man was arrested by Havelock Police and charged with death by distribution through sale.
Investigators say the North Carolina Medical Examiner determined Burdine died from fentanyl toxicity on August 30th, 2024.
I wanna be able to look my kid in the eye and be able to say we got justice for your daddy,” Natasha Burdine said, wife of the victim.
Jones was scheduled for a disposition hearing Wednesday afternoon in Craven County Superior Court.
According to figures provided by Fentanyl Victims Network, 380 fentanyl-related deaths were reported in Craven County between 2013 and 2025, with just six investigations leading to prosecutions.
After the hearing, Brian Jones still remains in the Craven County Jail. This case is still pending in Superior Court.
North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) agents said they arrested a Harnett County man with more than 30 grams of fentanyl, enough to kill 15,400 people.
Christopher William Johnston, 34, of Spring Lake, is charged with 10 counts of trafficking fentanyl, among other charges.
Agents said they searched a mobile home on Peggy Street on Thursday, seizing cocaine, opioids, psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana and over $12,000 in cash.
Johnston was arrested and charged with:
Felony trafficking in fentanyl – 10 counts
Felony conspiracy to traffic in fentanyl – 2 counts
Felony maintain a vehicle for a controlled substance – 2 counts
Felony assault on a law enforcement officer causing physical injury
Felony trafficking in opium
Felony possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine
Felony possession of a Schedule I controlled substance
Assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer – 2 counts
Injury to personal property
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Possession of marijuana
Johnston is accused of trafficking the drugs at ABC-licensed businesses in Harnett County.
Johnston is also accused of trying to run over several officers while trying to avoid arrest, leaving one agent with minor injuries. He’s being held in the Harnett County Detention Center without bond.
The suspect’s brother, Nicholas Jacob Johnston, 36, of Spring Lake, was also charged with fentanyl trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has not been arrested.
HARNETT COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – The North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement seized more than 15,400 lethal doses of fentanyl, following a month-long investigation into trafficking in Harnett County.
According to court records, Christopher Johnston was charged with the following:
10 counts of trafficking fentanyl
Two counts of conspiracy to traffic in fentanyl
Two counts of maintaining a vehicle for a controlled substance
One count of trafficking in opium
One count of possession of a schedule I controlled substance
One count of assault inflicting physical injury on a law enforcement officer
Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon
One count of injury to personal property
One count of possession of drug paraphernalia
One count of possession of marijuana
One count of possession of cocaine
Law enforcement said they also seized cocaine, opioids, psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana and over $12,000 in cash after executing a search warrant at Johnston’s home in Spring Lake.
During the arrest, court records say that Johnston tried to run over special agents during the arrest with a BMW. One agent had minor injuries, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Christopher Johnston’s brother, Nicholas Johnston, has been charged in connection with the investigation with the following, according to NCDPS:
Three counts of trafficking in fentanyl
One count of conspiring to traffic in fentanyl
Possession of drug paraphernalia.
Nicholas Johnston has not been arrested, according to law enforcement.
34-year-old Christopher Johnston received a $500,000 secured bond and will appear next in court on Nov. 10.
Cychlorphine is a lab-made opioid that laboratory tests found to be more potent than fentanyl.
Health officials warn that the drug has been found in illicit drugs, including powders and counterfeit pills made to look like prescription medications.
Cychlorphine’s strength can increase the risks of overdosing.
After years of fentanyl causing fatal overdoses, public officials are now warning of an even more powerful opioid.
After years of fentanyl causing fatal overdoses, public officials are now warning of an even more powerful opioid.
Cychlorphine (sy-KLOR-feen) is a synthetic, or lab-made, opioid — specifically, a class of drugs known as orphines. Created by researchers who were trying to find powerful painkillers in the 1960s, orphines were ultimately considered too strong and dangerous, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration never approved cychlorphine for medical use.
People who track illicit drugs in the United States first identifiedcychlorphine in the drug supply in 2024, and Reddit users were talking about it online that same year. The drug is now making headlines in connection with U.S. overdose deaths.
It was linked to a 16-year-old’s death in San Francisco in April. And in Knoxville, Tennessee, officials said cychlorphine had been detected inabout 50 suspected overdose deaths from July 2025 to early June.
Officials in Louisiana and Los Angeles County have issued public alerts warning residents of its risks as well.
Nationally, orphines don’t currently appear to be widespread, but “prevalence and trends are hard to discern,” said Jason R. Williams, a research scientist at the University of Washington’s Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute.
Hospitals and medical examiners’ toxicology tests and even crime labs sometimes fail to detect any given drug until it becomes a substance that officials are interested in tracking or collecting data on, he said.
The National Drug Control Policy office said it is currently most prevalent in Ohio, Texas and Tennessee.
Following a fatal overdose in Los Angeles County, public health officials there warnedthat cychlorphine is being mixed into the illicit drug supply without people’s knowledge. It has been found in powders, rocks or crystals, liquids and counterfeit pills made to look like prescription medications, they said.
How strong is cychlorphine?
The Drug Enforcement Administration describes fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that is approved for medical use — as about 100 times more potent than morphine.
Laboratory tests show cychlorphine is about 10 times more potent than fentanyl, said Alex Krotulski, director of toxicology and chemistry at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education.
“That’s the only data that we have right now,” Krotulski said in July. Fentanyl has been studied in humans, but cychlorphine has not been studied in humans or animals, he said. “So we’re really finding out in real time what its effects on humans are.”
The drug’s potential effect on a person, however, depends on the dose, not just the cychlorphine’s potency.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A second arrest was announced Thursday after an arrest earlier this week in connection with a woman’s deadly overdose in Wake County last summer, according to a Wake County Sheriff’s Office news release.
According to a warrant filed by the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, Jimmie Gerrell McKinnie of Raleigh is accused of selling fentanyl to Jessica Anne Basinger on June 18, 2025, which caused her death.
Basinger, 56, of Wendell, died the following day, leaving behind her husband, four children, and two grandchildren, according to her obituary.
Her friends told CBS 17 News that the community misses her. She lived in the same neighborhood along Pointers Glen Way in Wendell for more than twenty years.
“It was a shock. She had gone through hard times, but she was a great person,” one neighbor said. “She had a will to fight and keep going.”
The warrant shows McKinnie, who was arrested Tuesday, is also accused of conspiring to deliver the fentanyl. Thomas Carroll, 30, was arrested in the case on Thursday with help from the Asheville Police Department, the sheriff’s office news release said.
McKinnie, 35, was charged with death by distribution by sale and conspiracy to deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, according to court records.
Carroll was charged with felony death by distribution sale and felony conspire sell/deliver a schedule II controlled substance, the sheriff’s office said.
According to records, McKinnie made his first appearance in Wake County court on Wednesday and was not given bond. His next appearance has not been scheduled as of Wednesday.
Carroll is being held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility without bond.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office said the incident remains under investigation.
Records show McKinnie was convicted of three felonies in Wake County between 2014 and 2019, which were one count attempted common law robbery and two counts of possession of heroin.
In February, according to records, McKinnie was indicted in Wake County Superior Court on a habitual felon charge due to his three convictions.
According to records, McKinnie also has active felony cases against him from the Raleigh Police Department. He is charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with a shooting last November and possession with intent to sell/deliver marijuana in connection with an incident in March.
The Fayetteville Police Department is urging our community to stay informed about the dangers of fentanyl a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.
A lethal dose of fentanyl can be as small as 2 milligrams—roughly the size of a few grains of salt.
Data from the Department of Health and Human Services shows midway through 2026, North Carolina is seeing a 27% reduction of reported opioid overdoses across state emergency departments.
Between January and June, to include six months of DHHS data, there are 2,031 reported opioid overdoses in the state. That’s down by more than 700 overdoses compared to the same period of time last year.
Illicit opioids, which includes fentanyl, make up more than half of the emergency department visits in the state.
This comes six months after WRAL reported that North Carolina, as a state, saw another consecutive year of declining opioid and fentanyl overdose numbers. An analysis of state health data showed that opioid overdose hospitalizations had decreased by more than 20% in the last year, marking two consecutive years of declining emergency department visits in North Carolina. The same data source shows similar trends for fentanyl positive deaths, which decreased by 24% in the last year.
Even still, local police departments are issuing public safety notices about localized spikes in suspected fentanyl.
In Fayetteville, policer offers report an increase of overdoses believed to be caused by fentanyl in the local community.
“The increase has prompted concern that particularly potent or contaminated illegal drugs may currently be circulating in the Fayetteville area,” a spokesperson for the department said.
This rare spike comes as Cumberland County is experiencing a drastic reduction in overdoses reported to hospitals. Monthly DHHS data shows there are 33 reported cases so far this year, down from 95 over the same window of time last year.
Illicit opioids, which includes fentanyl, make up more than half of the emergency department visits in the state.
This comes six months after WRAL reported that North Carolina, as a state, saw another consecutive year of declining opioid and fentanyl overdose numbers. An analysis of state health data showed that opioid overdose hospitalizations had decreased by more than 20% in the last year, marking two consecutive years of declining emergency department visits in North Carolina. The same data source shows similar trends for fentanyl positive deaths, which decreased by 24% in the last year.
Even still, local police departments are issuing public safety notices about localized spikes in suspected fentanyl.
In Fayetteville, policer offers report an increase of overdoses believed to be caused by fentanyl in the local community.
“The increase has prompted concern that particularly potent or contaminated illegal drugs may currently be circulating in the Fayetteville area,” a spokesperson for the department said.
This rare spike comes as Cumberland County is experiencing a drastic reduction in overdoses reported to hospitals. Monthly DHHS data shows there are 33 reported cases so far this year, down from 95 over the same window of time last year.
By the numbers: Hospitalizations, deaths track down
Statewide, North Carolina recorded 4,960 emergency department visits related to opioid overdoses in 2025. That marks a 21% decrease in the last year, and a 48% decrease since 2023 when the state recorded a record number of 9,624.
In total, overdose emergency department visits decreased by 14% between 2024 and 2025. Last year’s 10,627 cases still mark a 43% reduction since 2023.
Total Overdose Emergency Department visits
WRAL analyzed data across the Raleigh area, including the North Carolina counties that surround the capital city. Eight counties did not offer county-level reporting. The year-over-year data revealed that rural counties are among those that have seen the largest gains in opioid hospitalization reduction from a per capita standpoint.
“Since the spike stream of the pandemic, we’re following national trends and exceeding national trends. Not only state but county-level data,” Dr. Kelly Crosbie says, Director of DHHS’ Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services
The charge, death by distribution, is relatively new to the North Carolina court system.
The law has been in effect since 2019, making it relatively new when it comes to a legal sense, and it’s being used all across the state.
Law professionals said it can get very complicated when trying to prosecute someone for selling a deadly dose. Since 2019, when the charge of death by distribution became law, Jeremiah Hargrove is one of seven people to ever be charged with it in Orange County. The charges came after 21-year-old Delise Ndinga Momo died of an overdose.
“If it saves one life, it’s worth it,” said retired judge Carl Fox.
Fox said it has its difficulties in getting through the court.
“You have a little bit of difficulty because the main person you need is deceased,” Fox said.
Fox says to get a conviction there needs to be hard evidence of the sale.
“They are, by their very nature, difficult cases,” Fox said.
Hargrove’s trial is just beginning. The prosecutors will lay out their evidence over the course of the trial’s early days. Court records said he sold indigamomo fentanyl in 2023, less than a week after his 21st birthday.
Family members remembering him as a handsome, talented, strong and generous person according to the GoFundMe they created back then. He’s one of the more than 23,000 North Carolinians to die from an opioid overdose since the death by distribution law was created. In that same time frame, according to the Fentanyl Victims Network, nearly 400 people have been charged in relation to selling the drugs that caused those deaths.
You have to say that it’s accomplishing something, and there should be risks involved for people out there dealing dangerous addictive drugs, because that’s the kind of thing that can kill people,” Fox said.
If Hargrove is found guilty, he faces up to five to six years in prison. That trial is expected to continue throughout the week.
