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‘I want them to understand the urgency’ | NC Gov. Stein on efforts to end fentanyl crisis

The proposed fentanyl control unit would include drug agents and prosecutors dedicated to investigating drug rings and stopping the flow of narcotics into the state.

Watch the original video and read the article on the WCNC website.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein was in Charlotte on Thursday to push for funding for a fentanyl control unit.

Stein was joined by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officials and people impacted by the fentanyl crisis during the news conference. People like Debbie Dalton.

“It took hardly a minute for my 6’3″, very healthy son to have a heart attack,” Dalton said, “That’s the thing with fentanyl. You don’t see it coming, but it’s coming. It’s relentless, and it’s killing our young people, and nobody is safe from it.”

Dalton lost her son, Hunter, in 2016. She has since worked to prevent other families from dealing with the same loss, and she says Stein’s effort is a part of that.

The proposed fentanyl control unit would include drug agents and prosecutors dedicated to investigating drug rings statewide. It would also be tasked with stopping the flow of narcotics into North Carolina communities.

Stein has been pushing for this unit since 2023 when he was the state’s attorney general. However, it’s never made it into the final state budget.

The same is true for this year’s Senate budget proposal, which did not include a fentanyl crisis unit.

“I encourage you to talk to the legislature,” Stein said. “The House is considering its budget as we speak, and so, it’s not a coincidence we’re having this discussion right now because I want them to understand the urgency.”

He said it would cost a couple million a year, which Stein said is fully within the General Assembly’s ability. The Senate’s budget plan did include funding for 10 additional prosecutors and five legal assistants for Mecklenburg County. If approved, it would mark the first significant increase in staffing for the DA’s office in nearly 15 years — a period during which the county’s population has grown by approximately 20%.

Stein said this is an important effort, but they still need more law enforcement resources focused on fentanyl.

“I want there to be more local prosecutors, but I just know how local ADAs are, and they are way overwhelmed,” Stein said. “These can be focused on the issue of fentanyl.”

At Thursday’s meeting, CMPD officials said it has received 600 overdose calls so far in 2025, an 11% increase from this time in 2024.

Contact Julie Kay at juliekay@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.

NC Mother Charged with Murder

Read the original article and watch the video on the WCNC website.

LENOIR, N.C. — A woman was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the 2023 death of her 7-month-old child, according to Lenoir Police this week.

Paige Nicole Blue, 27, was taken into custody on April 30 following her extradition from Lee County, Florida. Blue faces charges of murder and felony child abuse and is being held without bond.

The arrest comes after a lengthy investigation that began on March 16, 2023, when emergency responders were called to a home on Forrest Hill Park Place in Lenoir for an infant in cardiac arrest. Despite life-saving efforts, the child was pronounced dead at the scene.

The infant died from fentanyl toxicity, police said. A lethal dose of the drug was found in the child’s system.

Blue is scheduled for her first court appearance in Caldwell County District Court on Thursday. Police say the investigation is ongoing and more charges are expected.

The Lenoir Police Department is asking anyone with information related to this case to contact them at (828) 757-2100 or Lenoir/Caldwell County Crime Stoppers at (828) 758-8300.

WCNC Charlotte wants to hear about your loved one

If your loved one was impacted by this incident, WCNC Charlotte hopes to make this process less painful with our More Than A Number initiative. With your help, we want to share who your loved one was with our viewers in North Carolina and South Carolina. When you’re ready, fill out the form below or send us photos, memories and other details about them to desk@wcnc.com.

Carteret County Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office are fighting hard against fentanyl crisis

Read the original article and watch the video on the WNCT0 On Your Side website.

CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT)- The Carteret County Sheriff’s Office in collaboration with the District Attorney’s Office (District 4) continue to try to stay ahead of the fentanyl crisis and enforce the law to save lives.

Earlier this week the offices helped convict Hugh Crandall Willis Jr. of Gloucester, N.C. with Death by Distribution of Fentanyl, Sale and Delivery of Fentanyl and Felonious Possession of Fentanyl. A jury found him guilty of his role in the death of his girlfriend, Bethany JoAlison Styron.

According to Sheriff Asa Buck III, Carteret County has had three overdose deaths this year with more than 150 overdose cases in the past five years. However, he also says the county has seen a significant drop over that time period.

“Three is still too many,” Buck said. “One is too many, but it’s nowhere near the numbers of what we were seeing back in 2020, 20, 21, 22, and then in 23 and 24, the numbers began to drop.”

Buck says his office and the District Attorney’s are continuing to be proactive to the issue. The county has convicted more than 10 people with death by distribution and charged more than 30 since the General Assembly passed the statute in 2019.

“We investigate every drug overdose death just like a homicide and we have been for many years,” Buck said.

The sheriff, district attorney and others from the district attorney’s office were recently given the “Save Lives Together” award for their work in holding fentanyl traffickers accountable.

“When people are doing things and it’s causing people to die, that’s not something that you just sit back and say, well, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Buck said. “You make that a priority and you certainly try to do the very best you can to investigate those criminal offenses and hold people accountable when and where you can through the court system.”

Community unites at Beaufort forum to address rising fentanyl crisis in Carteret County

Read the original article and watch the video on the WCTI News 12 website.

More than 50 community members gathered at the Beaufort Train Depot Saturday to discuss the deadly impact of fentanyl in Carteret County. During the forum, Sheriff Asa Buck, District Attorney Scott Thomas, and other local officials received the Save Lives Together Award for their ongoing fight against fentanyl trafficking.

Families at the event shared personal stories about losing loved ones to fentanyl, highlighting the community’s urgent fight against the deadly drug.

One of those was Barbara Walsh who lost her Daughter to the deadly drug.

“It’s important for the families who lost a loved one to know that what their community is doing to keep someone else from dying,” said Walsh.

And In Carteret County alone, fentanyl overdoses have claimed 168 lives from 2013 through 2023.

According to Carteret County Sherriff Asa Buck a trend decreasing over the years.

“These cases are not different someone committed an act they provided a drug to someone caused them to lose their life and we investigate that just like a homicide and we prosecute those offenders just like we would if they would have killed somebody with a knife or a gun, ” said Sheriff Asa Buck

Man charged for deadly drug overdose in Kannapolis

Read the original article and watch the video on the WCNC website.

Alex Horne, 27, is charged with death by distribution in connection to the death of Rodney Anthony.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Police have arrested a suspect after a man died from an opioid overdose in April 2024.

Alex Horne, 27, is charged with death by distribution. He is accused of supplying drugs to Rodney Anthony, who died of an opioid overdose.

Anthony died on Fir Avenue on April 20, 2024, according to the Kannapolis Police Department. It took nearly a year after Anthony’s death to identify Horne as the suspect.

Horne was arrested on Tuesday. He is being held with a $750,000 bond in Cabarrus County jail. His next court date is April 9.

Morehead City man charged in OD death

Read the original article and watch the video on the WITN News 7 website.

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WITN) – A man has been charged with the overdose death of a woman last summer in Morehead City.

Morehead City police say Bryan Mace was arrested last Thursday on charges of death by distribution, possession with the intent to sell and deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, and delivery of a Schedule II controlled substance.

Police say Kaitlyn Curry died from an overdose last July. An arrest warrant said Mace delivered fentanyl to the 36-year-old woman

Mace was already in jail for related drug charges. His bond was increased by $750,000 due to these additional charges.

Woman found guilty of felony death charge following overdose investigation

Read the original article and watch the video on the Fox Carolina News website.

HENDERSON COUNTY, N.C. (FOX Carolina) – The District Attorney’s Office for Prosecutorial District 42 reports that a woman was found guilty after a victim died from ingesting Fentanyl in 2023.

Heather Marie Maybin, 38, from Hendersonville, was found guilty of death by distribution.

The court trial record said that Maybin was a drug dealer who conducted her controlled substances activities over Facebook Messenger.

A transaction she arranged in the Walmart parking lot located off Highland Square Drive on Feb. 6, 2023, involved a quantity of fentanyl sold for $40, the court trial record said.

The investigation revealed the victim and a friend ingested the drug that evening through a hypodermic needle. The victim lost consciousness, stopped breathing and was later declared to have died from Fentanyl toxicity

PREVIOUS: Woman facing felony death charges following overdose investigation

The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office used a search warrant to obtain communications received through Facebook Messenger, court records said.

Maybin was sentenced to a minimum term of 66 months and a maximum term of 92 months in the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections.

District Attorney Andrew Murray said “My office, along with our dedicated and professional partners, is committed to ridding our community of fentanyl by holding drug dealers accountable for these untimely and extremely tragic deaths.”

Rutherford County man arrested during drug bust earlier this week now faces murder charge

Read the original article and watch the video on the WFYY News 4 website.

A man arrested during a drug bust earlier this week is now facing a murder charge for his alleged involvement in an overdose death.

On May 27, 2024, deputies with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a residence on Highland Avenue in reference to a possible cardiac arrest that appeared to be an overdose.

Upon arrival, deputies found the victim, Johnathon Pruitt, deceased inside the home.

On Monday, Rutherford County investigators began investigating a home on Harris Henrietta Road in Mooresville due to multiple narcotics complaints.

During the investigation, authorities spotted 63-year-old Kenneth Ray Melton leaving the home on foot. Investigators spoke with Melton and he gave consent for investigators to search him. Law enforcement found multiple baggies of fentanyl on Melton.

Melton was arrested and charged with the following:

Possession with intent to manufacture sell and distribute a Schedule II controlled substance
Maintaining a dwelling for controlled substance
Possession of methamphetamine
Possession of drug paraphernalia

Wilmington man charged for allegedly causing fatal overdose in Pender County

Read the original article and watch the video on the WECT News6 website.

PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – A Wilmington man has been arrested in connection to a death by distribution investigation in Pender County.

The Pender County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) says Anthony Quinn Marshall has been charged for allegedly causing the death of Jessica Kelly of Currie, NC.

Deputies and Pender Emergency Services responded to Blueberry Road where they found Kelly unconscious. Responders attempted life-saving measures but were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead.

“Through investigation, detectives concluded that the cause of death was due to a fatal overdose,” a PCSO representative wrote in a press release.

Marshall was arrested on Feb. 24 and placed in the Pender County Jail under a $250,000 secured bond.

According to his arrest warrant, he was charged with death by distribution, sell/deliver cocaine, sell Sch II controlled substances, possession with the intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver (PWIMSD) cocaine, PWIMSD Sch II controlled substances, manufacture Sch II controlled substances, manufacture cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Families who lost loved ones to opioid crisis welcome Stein’s call for Fentanyl Control Unit

Read the original article and watch the video on the ABC11 News website.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — There’s a renewed push to get deadly drugs off of North Carolina’s streets. At last night’s State of the State address, Governor Josh Stein once again called for the creation of a Fentanyl Control Unit.

The task force would be comprised of law enforcement officers and prosecutors to find the illegal drug and go after those distributing it.

“Too many North Carolinians are like Debbie – parents, siblings, spouses, children, and friends who will never get their loved one back,” Stein remarked in his speech.

Governor Stein invited Debbie Dalton as one of his guests of honor to Wednesday’s address. The Charlotte mom lost her son, Hunter, to fentanyl in 2016.

Debbie Dalton, Husband, Son Hunter (middle)

On Thursday, ABC11 spoke with Debbie, who described the moment she received a standing ovation on the House floor.

“It was so surreal and so incredibly special. I’m humbled,” she said.

Debbie met Stein not long after Hunter died in 2016 and has used the last 8-plus years to advocate for the dangers of opioids. Their connection became so strong that she shared her story in a series of campaign ads for the Governor in the fall. Debbie said his memory still fuels her work on the issue.

“We need more Hunters in the world,” Dalton said. “He was this great young man, and he could be contributing. While he made a bad decision that night, you’re not supposed to suffer that sort of consequence for your decision.”

For local anti-fentanyl advocates like Barb Walsh — who founded the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina — the establishment of a Fentanyl Control Unit is many years in the making.

“To me, it’s a continuation of the fight against fentanyl and his support of the over 18,000 devastated families who have a loved one who’s been killed by fentanyl,” Walsh said.

Walsh lost her daughter, Sophia, to fentanyl in August of 2021 and has since worked with lawmakers to get new legislation passed, including a bill making it easier for prosecutors to go after people who sell bad drugs. She believes the time for bipartisan action on the issue is now.

“This is not a red issue or blue issue. Fentanyl does not discriminate in who it kills,” Walsh said.

Stein’s remarks were met with bipartisan applause during last night’s address. The possibility of funding a possible Fentanyl Control Unit will likely arise during budget negotiations.