Pubdate: Mon, 10 Sep 2001
Source: News & Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2001 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.news-observer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author: Angela Heywood Bible
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin)

OVERDOSE SUSPECTED IN DEATH

Victim ID'd As UNC Senior

CARRBORO -- Police are investigating the possibility that a 20-year-old UNC 
student found dead Friday morning at his Carrboro residence died from a 
cocaine overdose or from a deadly mix of cocaine and another drug, such as 
the prescription painkiller OxyContin.

Authorities on Sunday identified the victim as Daniel Scott Walker, a 
senior journalism and economics major at the University of North Carolina 
at Chapel Hill. He was found dead about 10:30 a.m. in his upstairs bedroom 
at 92 Pine Hill Drive, Capt. Joel Booker said.

Police found drugs in Walker's room, Booker said. After interviewing some 
of Walker's friends, police suspect the student may have ingested cocaine 
mixed with another drug.

Last year, 21 people died from OxyContin overdoses in North Carolina.

Although police will have to wait for the toxicology report to know exactly 
what killed Walker, Booker urged the community to be careful.

"We want there to be a certain awareness and concern in the community that 
there could be some tainted drugs out there," he said.

If Walker died from mixed drugs, police wouldn't know whether he bought 
them that way, Booker said.

Booker gave the following account of the events leading to Walker's death:

On Thursday night, Walker attended one or more parties at which he drank 
alcohol. He returned to his off-campus home during the night, made a few 
telephone calls, and could be heard moving around in his attic bedroom 
until 5 a.m.

When Walker's roommates found his body Friday morning, there were no signs 
of struggle or foul play, Booker said. Walker's body was taken to the state 
medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill for an autopsy.

On Sunday, no one answered the door at the house where Walker lived.

Born in Columbia, S.C., Walker graduated from Hendersonville High, his 
aunt, Beth Todd, said Sunday. He belonged to Hendersonville First United 
Methodist Church and Sigma Nu fraternity and was an avid hiker. He is 
survived by his parents and his 26-year-old brother.

Sue Kitchen, vice chancellor for student affairs at UNC, said she can't 
recall a student death caused by drugs in her five years at the university.

"Certainly this is a tragedy to lose such a young life," Kitchen said. 
"We're still waiting for information."

The university runs a Center for Healthy Student Behaviors, where students 
can find help for drug and alcohol addictions.

On Thursday, a China Grove man died of an apparent OxyContin overdose. The 
drug, a potent painkiller, gives a euphoric high similar to that of heroin. 
OxyContin abusers often chew the tablets or crush the tablets and snort the 
powder, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The maker of OxyContin has been hit with at least 13 lawsuits from people 
who say they have become addicted to the painkiller and others who want to 
hold the company responsible for an alarming wave of overdoses and deaths 
among abusers.

Many of the plaintiffs say they received OxyContin legitimately and became 
addicted by taking the prescribed dose. Other lawsuits seek to hold the 
company responsible for illegal use of the drug, which has become a deadly 
scourge in some parts of the country.
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