Pubdate: Sat, 29 May 1999 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 1999 The Dallas Morning News Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Forum: http://forums.dallasnews.com:81/webx Author: Vikas Bajaj / The Dallas Morning News RADIO HOST FINDS BROTHER-IN-LAW DEAD Mark Davis says house guest had used heroin before; overdose suspected BEDFORD - The live-in brother-in-law of radio talk-show host Mark Davis died of an apparent drug overdose Friday morning in Mr. Davis' Bedford home. Kevin T. Graves, 29, brother of Mr. Davis' wife, Kathi, was found by Mr. Davis in a bathroom, medical examiner's records show. Authorities were called about 8:45 a.m. The official cause of death has not been determined, but officials said it appears to have been an overdose. Mr. Graves, a truck driver, had been living with the Davises for most of the year. The couple had asked him to leave once last year when he relapsed and used heroin, Mr. Davis said. "We had a condition that he had to stay clean," said Mr. Davis, host of The Mark Davis Show on WBAP-AM (820). "Things appeared to be going real well. He had a job." The conservative commentator has frequently addressed addiction on his show weekday mornings, especially in light of the area's numerous heroin overdose deaths. But he said he knows now what it feels like to lose a relative to drugs. "A month ago, I was talking about heroin deaths in the news, and this morning I'm talking about a heroin death in my home," he said. "It makes me identify with all the families who live with someone who can't beat this habit." Like many other addicts, he said, Mr. Graves had trouble admitting that his drug use could kill him. Mr. Graves had chalked up recent heroin deaths to the users' lack of experience, said Mr. Davis, who also writes a twice-weekly column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "When [former Dallas Cowboys lineman] Mark Tuinei died, that hit him hard," Mr. Davis said. "We looked at him and said, 'See,' and he said the people who died don't know what they are doing." Belita Nelson, founder of the drug-addiction support group Starfish Foundation, said drug users often believe they are invincible when they have no way of gauging the risks they face. "They think that. They really do believe that," Ms. Nelson said. "It makes my blood run cold when they say that." Users often mistakenly believe they can determine the purity of drugs by looking at them. Authorities have said some recent heroin deaths can be attributed to more potent drugs entering the market. Addicts accustomed to a certain purity level often overdose when the substances they ingest are purer or processed differently. Northeast Tarrant County has seen more than 20 overdose deaths in the last two years. And over the last three years, 18 teens with ties to Plano have died of heroin overdoses. "If someone is using drugs and they don't believe that will kill you, think again," Mr. Davis said. "There is a dead body in my home that proves otherwise." Julio Mercado, special agent in charge of the Dallas office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said that even with heightened publicity about drug-related deaths, parents often are still slow to react appropriately. "A lot of parents are in denial," he said. "We are in denial." Mr. Davis said even a strong approach sometimes isn't enough to get a user to give up his habit. "We got tough with Kevin; that was the only reason he was here," Mr. Davis said. "He had gone a long time without using, [but] he went back on it for one time." - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck