(suspenseful music) - [Josh Stein] Fentanyl
is absolutely devastating. North Carolina families,
communities, people's lives. - I call it the devil. I mean, it has no boundaries. - No. - It doesn't care what
color you are, what race. I mean, it doesn't care
if you're male or female or rich or poor. It doesn't matter. Once it comes for
you, it's got you. - And it calls your name. - It calls your name, and- - And there's no going back. - [Investigator] The big
one's fentanyl, you guys. - [Investigator 2] That's
what's the deadly stuff. - The mere end of an ink
pen is enough to kill you. - We're talking about
just a chemical drug that is 50 times more
potent than heroin. And what the drug
traffickers are doing is putting it in all
kinds of products. They're putting it with cocaine. They're putting
it with marijuana. (suspenseful music) - He was a dynamic, brilliant,
talented, amusing person. He wasn't just the kid who
snorted the heroin and died. - This can happen
to or with anyone. (suspenseful music) - Fentanyl is an opioid. And what that means
is it's a painkiller. In its pharmaceutical forms, when it's produced by
pharmaceutical companies and approved by the FDA, it's used for acute
and chronic pain. Unfortunately, when we're
talking about fentanyl from a overdose perspective, we're mostly talking
about illicit fentanyl. And this is fentanyl that
is produced by drug cartels and used for money making
purposes, not for healthcare. As little as two milligrams
can lead to death. - If two milligrams
could kill someone, why would it be in these drugs? Like why would a drug dealer
who's trying to make money put it in drugs if it
could kill their customers? - So unfortunately, that is
all about business, right? So they want fentanyl
as cheap to produce. And if you can put in a
tiny amount of something and produce a big high, then
you can make a lot more money. - So obviously, if
the dealer has the strongest stuff on the streets, that's what these drug
users are going to look for. - We are in the deadliest moment of the deadliest drug
epidemic in American history. (upbeat music) - [Jeff] My name's Jeff Nash. - [Lori] My name's Lori Nash. - And we're talking about
our daughter Amanda Nash. (mellow music) Amanda was a fun kid. She always wanted to make
the other kids laugh. I think she had a
great childhood. She was very involved
in her church. She played little league,
went to Girl Scouts, piano lessons, kind of the
all-American kid stuff. She left for college, went to
Appalachian State University, and we started
seeing some changes. We thought maybe she
was getting involved in just more of the party lifestyle
and the college lifestyle. - [Lori] I thought
it was just alcohol. I thought it was an alcohol
issue or something like that. - So she was gonna
take a semester off, and a semester
turned into a year, and she was working, and
she was working full-time, and making money, and
living in an apartment. She could walk into a room and convince you that
everything's fine. And you look at her, and I
mean, and why wouldn't it be? I mean, she's holding a job. She's showing up for work. She's involved. She's singing in a band
down there in Boone. - There's a knock at the door. I went to the door, and there were two Apex
police officers there. He asked me if I
knew Amanda Nash, and I said I did. That was my daughter. And I said, "Was
she in an accident?" And he said, "She's
no longer with us." And I said, "Excuse me." He said, "She has passed away." He just said it like it
was very matter of fact. "It was a fentanyl overdose." And I said, "A what?" And I can remember I was
standing out on the deck, and I went, there's no way. And how could she have even
tried something like that? 'Cause it made absolutely
no sense to me. - At the end of the day, there's lots of
responsibility for this. I mean, there is a drug dealer
who has some responsibility. There is an Amanda herself
who is a grown adult who made up her own mind
and made her decisions. Excuse me. And then as a dad, it's my
job to take care of her. And I failed. - You'll be hard
pressed to find a family in the United States
that hasn't been at some level impacted
when you're talking about the numbers that
we're talking about. A little over 75%
of drug overdoses in North Carolina involve
fentanyl in some way. Unfortunately, in 2021, we lost the most North
Carolinians we've ever lost to drug overdoses, and
that was 4,041 individuals. (suspenseful music) - [Will] My name
is Will Stevenson. - [Diane] My name
is Diane Stevenson. And we are here to talk
about our two sons. We had five boys. William was the oldest, and
Parker was our middle son. I just absolutely
loved every moment of being able to be
called their mother. - William was full
of personality. He just lit up a room, and he
was always fun to be around. We dealt with his situation
with drugs for about 11 years. In high school I think he
started dabbling in pills, and then eventually
it became heroin. - We knew that if he
didn't change his lifestyle that he was gonna end up in jail for the rest of his life,
or ultimately he would die. Parker was larger than life. He had an amazing personality. He had a great smile. He was very athletic. And if he were here today he would say that
he was a mama's boy. Parker also struggled
with addiction, but his was a little
different than his brother's. He had gotten married. His wife was five
months pregnant, and he had decided that
he was ready for rehab. It was a 90-day program. He really felt like
he was equipped with what he needed to conquer
the world when he came out. - When we got the call, we were, most of us were in the kitchen. Diane had stepped
out of the room, and she came back into the room, and she hit the floor
screaming, "My baby's dead." And our first
thought was, William. I mean, I think
everybody in the room thought it was William. And it was Parker. I mean, it was, we were
all shocked beyond belief. - [Diane] A fentanyl
and heroin overdose, and that's what killed him. - [Will] It was mostly fentanyl. - [Diane] But mostly fentanyl. - We all had hoped that, wow, now William's finally
gotta wake up. Losing a brother has
to have him wake up from this terrible disease. Unfortunately, it did not. And he says, "I'm much
smarter than Parker was. I never do heroin or meth. I never do drugs alone." - Which he did do drugs alone 'cause he was alone
when he passed also. - I see families
that are very intact, and then a kid gets on fentanyl,
and cocaine, and heroin, and it ruins them, and
it ruins the family. We gotta remember, when we
come up, there was marijuana. People were not addicted
and dying over it. Then cocaine come out, and
people were addicted to it, but they probably
weren't dying of it. Then crack come out, which is
a whole lot more addictive, but it wasn't killing
them instantly. Now you have heroin that is
laced with fentanyl and opioids. It's killing people instantly. (suspenseful music) - My name is Christie
Barker Cummings, and I'm gonna talk to
you about my son Kevin, who died of an accidental
fentanyl overdose in 2018. He was very, very, I really
wanna say he was brilliant. I don't say that
about many people. It's not just
because I'm his mom. He was off the charts in terms of his
intellectual capabilities, his school performance. This was a time period
when Xans or Xanax, right, was sort of all over the street. So he was hooked by
the time we really knew what was going on. Then it was a struggle. It was a two year struggle
trying to get him care. It was just a cycle of
binging, getting in trouble, being sober for a week, binging. There was one particularly
bad day where he had come home and sort of vandalized the house because I told him he
couldn't be there intoxicated in front of his
younger brothers. The police then, at the time
in Hillsborough where I lived said, "We're gonna
press charges on him." And so he was held
in jail for 10 days. 10 days. - At 17 he was
treated as an adult and put into an adult jail. - They would sleep with,
separate from the adults, but they were with the
adults in the jail all day. So that, and that's actually
where he met Nathan. Nathan, I think was
44 or 45 years old, and Kevin was 17. And so it was not appropriate
for them to be together. So I think Kevin
learned that Nathan knew how to get access
to harder things. - They decided to trade. Kevin was going to trade
some marijuana to Mr. Windham in exchange for some heroin. He was celebrating his 18th
birthday with these drugs. Kevin got three
bindles of heroin, which unfortunately not only
did have real heroin in it, but it was laced with fentanyl. And he consumed that,
and it killed him. - So I picked up the phone
and was just screaming, and then I heard my, I
heard his dad saying, "It's Kevin, he's
dead, he's dead. Kevin's dead." And it's surreal. It's so surreal. - [Jeff] So we initially
decided to charge Mr. Windham with second degree murder. - Cummings overdosed, and Windham was charged
with second degree murder. - At that time, when
I first found out, I felt glad. Like, oh it's the right thing
that somebody should have, should be arrested and
be held accountable. - What we elected to do with
the support of the family was to offer Mr. Windham a plea
to involuntary manslaughter. Still going to prison, but for less time
than he would have had he been convicted
of the original charge. - [Announcer] Nathan
Windham pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He'll serve at least two years in prison for the death
of Kevin Cummings. - [Driver] This Old Prison
Camp Road, and start. - [Navigation] Head South
toward Beach Street Drive. - And we are going to
interview Nathan Windham. (dramatic music) - So we're going to the
Anson Correctional Facility. So the prison in Anson. I didn't know if Nathan
Windham would talk to us. - Why do you want
to talk to Nathan? - Nathan Windham is
part of his story. I mean, he's in
prison right now. An a 18-year-old is dead
as a result of his actions. Okay, looks like we're here. (slow tense music) (zipper zips)
(car door thuds) We're not allowed to bring
cameras into the jail. It's just their policy. So I'm gonna go in alone. I'll use an audio recorder
and record our interview. - [Nathan] My name
is Nathan Windham. I'm currently at Anson
Correctional Institution. - [Cristin] What has
Fentanyl done to your life? - [Nathan] Fentanyl has got
me where I'm at right now. I didn't know that
the drugs had fentanyl in them at the time. You know, I found that
out at a later date after I was arrested. But I hear about it everywhere. - [Cristin] And you said you
got to know Kevin briefly? - [Nathan] Yes, ma'am. We were locked up together
in the Orange County Jail. I was in for a DWI. I'm not sure what he was in for. - [Cristin] What was he like? - [Nathan] He was
very intelligent. You could just tell by the way he talked
and the things he knew, how bright he was. And real-outspoken, real spunky. I think he was a good kid. He just had a problem. And then... And then I came along. I wasn't in my right mind. I wasn't thinking right. I was under the
influence of drugs. The same drug that killed him. It just goes to show
people out there how fast that your
life can change. I'm just so, I'm sorry. If I could change places with
him, I would in a heartbeat. - It could be a
mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a kid. It has no boundaries. The good thing about
this is it stopped before it got into a home. - [Officer] Big one's
fentanyl, you guys. - This morning we stopped
the vehicle that was loaded with methamphetamines
and fentanyl. - [Officer] Get a fentanyl win. - When you stop that
drug on the highway, and it does not get
into the community and it don't get
into a family member or a sibling or anybody's hands, it's a success. - Originally, we were seeing
fentanyl flown in from China. That's where a lot of
the component chemicals are manufactured. But more recently, the fentanyl
components are being sent to Mexico where they're
being manufactured there and driven across the border
through border checkpoints. And those drugs are coming
all across this country, including here to
North Carolina. And they're absolutely
devastating people's lives. (slow tense music) We have to approach the supply, but we also have
to approach demand, and that's drug addiction. And so I've been holding the
drug companies accountable that created this crisis
in the first place. - How did they do this? Like, you know, how
are they to blame? - There were three waves
of this opioid epidemic. The first wave from
2000, 2010 or 12 had to do with
prescription pills. And the drug companies
were aggressively promoting these
pills to prescribers, asserting that they were
effective at treating pain and they were not addictive. And it turns out that neither
of those things are true. And so millions of Americans
got hooked on these pills while these companies
were making billions and billions of dollars. When the pills became
less available, folks started transitioning
to using heroin, buying it on the street, because heroin was cheaper
than the prescription pills. And now this third wave
has to do with fentanyl which is even
cheaper than heroin. And that's what's killing people because it's incredibly potent. We are making them
pay over $50 billion. North Carolina's share is
gonna be about $1.4 billion. It has to go to
prevention, harm reduction, treatment or recovery services. - Harm reduction is a safe
space for people to come and get clean sterile supplies, Narcan, fentanyl test strips. Basically anything a drug
user needs to stay safe. Be safe. Erica Minton. I am the harm reductionist here for Wilkes Recovery Revolution. So I am in recovery. My husband and I had
substance use disorder. We were addicted to
opiates, among other things. And unfortunately in
December 31st of 2017, I lost my husband
to an overdose. I came here to Wilkes
Recovery to put his picture on the Somebody's Someone wall. And it just so happened
that those events led up to they needed a harm reductionist. You have some returns? - Yeah.
- Okay, awesome. I love to see my
syringes come back. Every day when I come into work and I touch his picture, and I feel him, I just
know he's working with me. - And we pretty much take
all the work that we do here out to people. - Hey, you need some supplies? - Yes, please.
- All right. - So we distribute
fentanyl test strips. - Fentanyl test strips? - Yeah.
- All right. - They can test that substance so that they can make a
better choice for themselves and know what is in that supply. I used to say people overdosed. I now say people
are being poisoned because people don't even
know what they're getting. - As far as Narcan, do
you want the intramuscular or the nasal?
- Both. - Both. - People commonly
call it Narcan. And that's the opiate
reversal medication. The easiest is the nasal spray. Literally, anyone can use it. - We aren't enabling drug
use by distributing Narcan. We're saving lives so that
hopefully people can get well. - You need some supplies? - Yes.
- All right. - Harm reduction is hope. - Short or long? - In the depths of addiction. It's important to have hope. Hope gives them a chance
to look towards tomorrow. - There you are.
- All right, thank you. - Be safe. - I can count on one
hand the number of times I've cried in court. And this was one. (dramatic music)
(bell rings) (pensive music) - Nathan Windham traded drugs with 18-year-old,
Kevin Cummings. Windham was charged with
second-degree murder. Today he pleaded guilty to
involuntary manslaughter. - So we went into
court that day knowing that Mr. Windham was
accepting the plea offer. For a case of this magnitude,
and many criminal cases, the victim, the
defendant, in many cases, they still want a
chance to be heard. - What I hoped for that day was an opportunity
to speak for Kevin. - [Cristin] So what did you
think going in that day? You had your pictures, right? - Yup, yup. I wanted something that was
big and would stand out, but a regular photo, I didn't
think would make the impact that this painting does. - Kevin was only 18 years old. And different people look
different when they're 18. Some 18-year-olds
look like adults. He looked a lot like a kid. I'd been working with this
case for a couple of years so it shouldn't have
hit me the way it did, but seeing that
portrait of Kevin while his mother was
talking about him was very moving. (pensive music continues) - [Cristin] What were
you trying to convey? - [Nathan] I just
wanted to let them know there's not a day go by that
I'm, (sniffles) I'm not... I'm just so, I'm sorry. - [Cristin] And
when Nathan talked, what went through your mind? - His concern, I could see it. He wanted me, he
wanted us to know, Kevin's family to
know, how sorry he was, how much remorse,
how much regret, how much it's impacted his life. - [Cristin] And then you? - And I hugged Nathan. I saw him standing there and
I could see him reach for me. I had to hug him, you know? I just felt their humanity. I said, "I forgive you." I mean, I told him, I said, "I can tell you're
really sorry." I thanked him for
saying he was sorry. And I told him that
I don't blame him. I don't blame Nathan. - I have never seen,
in my experience, a man who just pled guilty
to a homicide hug the mother of the person he's now
been convicted of killing. - [Nathan] It just
changed my life. And I prayed about it,
prayed about it to see for her forgiveness, and it come true
and this happened. - It felt freeing, freeing. It felt like I was released from some chains, yeah. (pensive music) (Laura knocking) - Hey.
- Hey, come on in. - Okay.
- How are you, Laura? - Good, how are you?
- It's so good see you. - [Laura] My name is
Laura Carden Windham. - [Christie] But I mean, it's- - Heavenly. - You doing okay? - Mm-hmm. And I know Christie
through the death of her son, Kevin Cummings. Okay. The day in the courtroom
was something that Nathan and I had been waiting
a long time for just to simply say, "I'm sorry," because he was truly sorry
for what he had done. And a great moment for
him and myself, too, was to get the forgiveness
that Christie had to give and to show the love
in that courtroom. 'Cause I can't imagine
where she's coming from to be able to give that. That was an answered prayer. - So Laura amazed me, too. - This is the first
time I've spoken in front of a crowd of people. - She told her story at
church for one sermon one day. - Kevin Cummings will be a
name forever in our hearts and to never be
forgotten in our lives. - She said, "I'm
telling this story here, but I'm telling you this
became my purpose in life. This has now defined my
purpose in life from here out." She's been volunteering with
people who have addiction. Are you ready? - I am. Are you?
- Yeah, yeah. - Let's do it. - [Christie] Powerful together, right?
- Let's do it. Absolutely. - Together, we could be, our
story could be really powerful if we worked together. - You know I love you. - [Christie] I know. I
love you, too. (chuckles) - [Laura] Moving forward, I
would hope that we could change as many lives as possible
by sharing our stories because I know that our story is not a normal
story for anybody. - We definitely have
a purpose, for sure. - And I hope that that
gives people hope. If we have forgiveness
for somebody else no matter what the
situation could be, it could be life-altering and
make things so much better. (pensive music) (wind chimes ringing) - [Will] We weren't not
gonna be quiet anymore. People needed to hear
about the real lives of normal people that are
losing children every day. I mean, every day. (pensive music continues) - And we know we
can't save a child. Because if we could've
saved a child, we would've saved our two. - We all tried different things and different
combinations of things, and then we each wish
we had done the thing the other person did, but we
ended up with the same outcome. Our kids are dead. - There has to be a
reason for us going on, if that makes sense,
our lives going on. - I think if there's
anybody out there who's having suspicions
about someone they love, maybe they need to
hear Amanda's story. (pensive music continues)
