ASHEBORO NC – An overdose call Saturday morning led to Liberty Police finding 3 people deceased, 2 more taken to an area and hospital, and a Greensboro man being charged in connection to the deaths.
According to a press release from the Liberty Police Department, Liberty Police, Fire and Randolph County EMS were called to Johnson’s Mobile Home Park on W Moffitt Ave on Saturday October 16, 2021, after receiving a call about 3 unresponsive persons. When they arrived they found 3 individuals who were deceased and another 2 individuals police described as very ill. Those two persons were treated at Chatham Hospital and later released. The deceased persons were identified as Gumesindo Ala Acoste, Noe Garcia Zuniga, and the third victim’s name is being withheld until family members can be located and notified.
The Liberty Police Department requested the assistance of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI), the Randolph County SERT team, the RCSO Vice unit. Liberty Police Department says their investigation determined the five victims had ingested what was believed to be cocaine laced with fentanyl.
As a result, Xavier Da’Shawn Andrews of Greensboro NC has been charged with 3 counts of Death by Distribution. Police say the case is still under investigation and additional charges may be forthcoming. Andrews surrendered to law enforcement Saturday night and is being held in Randolph County Jail under a 1 Million dollar bond. Andrews also has multiple pending felony drug charges in Guilford County.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is approximately 100 times more potent. Illicit fentanyl, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market. There is significant risk that illegal drugs have been intentionally contaminated with fentanyl. Because of its potency and low cost, drug dealers have been mixing other drugs with fentanyl including heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, increasing the likelihood of a fatal interaction. Producing illicit fentanyl is not an exact science and two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage.Signs and symptoms of fentanyl overdose are stupor, changes in pupillary size, cold and clammy skin, cyanosis – blue discoloration of the skin, respiratory failure leading to death and coma. Victims may also die of positional asphyxiation (being unconscious in a position that inhibits breathing) or aspiration (vomiting while unconscious and then breathing in the vomit).
Liberty Police Department – Press Rlease
Police are asking anyone who has information about the sale of these deadly substances to contact their local law enforcement agency immediately.