Tuesday, February 18, 2025

3 people arrested in connection to fatal overdose of 83-year-old

A fatal overdose investigation conducted by the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Vice and Narcotics. (Courtesy NHCSO)

WILMINGTON — A fatal overdose investigation conducted by the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Vice and Narcotics Division has led to three arrests.

On Friday, Jan. 10, 30-year-old Michael Tyler Britt, 46-year-old Daniel Mark Reaves and 45-year-old Melissa Ann Cribb were arrested in connection to a Dec. 6 incident. Ruth Lawson, 83, was found deceased inside her residence on Horndale Drive. Police say it was a fatal overdose.

New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office charged Britt with:

  • Death by Distribution
  • Trafficking in Opium or Heroin/Fentanyl
  • Trafficking Methamphetamines
  • Possession with the intent to Manufacture, Sell and Deliver Fentanyl
  • Sell and Deliver Schedule I (Fentanyl)
  • Conspiracy to Sell Schedule I (Fentanyl)
  • Maintain/Sell/Deliver/Possess within 1000 feet of a school
  • Possession of a firearm by a felon

He also received an additional 23 drug-related charges and has a $1,190,000 secured bond.

Cribb received a $155,000 secured bond and was charged with:

  • Death by Distribution
  • Possession with the intent to Manufacture, Sell, and Deliver Schedule I (Fentanyl)
  • Sell and Deliver Schedule I (Fentanyl)
  • Conspiracy to Sell Schedule I (Fentanyl)

Reaves faces multiple charges as he awaits his first appearance:

  • Death by Distribution
  • Possession with the intent to Manufacture, Sell, and Deliver Schedule I (Fentanyl)
  • Sell and Deliver Schedule 1 (Fentanyl)
  • Conspiracy to Sell Schedule I (Fentanyl)

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Shea Carver
Shea Carver
Shea Carver is the editor in chief at Port City Daily. A UNCW alumna, Shea worked in the print media business in Wilmington for 22 years before joining the PCD team in October 2020. She specializes in arts coverage — music, film, literature, theatre — the dining scene, and can often be tapped on where to go, what to do and who to see in Wilmington. When she isn’t hanging with her pup, Shadow Wolf, tending the garden or spinning vinyl, she’s attending concerts and live theater.

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