The Hillsborough Police Department announced an arrest in a fatal overdose case on Friday afternoon, charging the man who allegedly sold drugs to the deceased.

A release from the department said 36-year-old Walter Wrenn faces a charge of felony death by distribution in connection to a death from May 20 of this year. Wrenn, who is an Efland resident, was already incarcerated in the Orange County Detention Center on unrelated charges when the Hillsborough Police made their arrest.

Walter Wrenn, 36. (Photo via the Hillsborough Police Department.)

Police officers with the town and Orange County Emergency Services responded to a medical call on May 20, according to Friday’s release. Upon arrival to a residence on Summit Drive off North Carolina Highway 86, they found a 35-year-old woman experiencing an opioid overdose. Police said while the first responders attempted lifesaving measures for the woman, they were unsuccessful in reviving her.

The Hillsborough Police Department and the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner have worked with the victim’s family in the following months to conduct an investigation for death by distribution charges. Such measures are allowed by North Carolina’s 2019 “Death by Distribution” Act, which allows for the prosecution of those who sell substances to buyers that later overdose from those specific drugs. Hillsborough Police said their investigation ultimately led to the discovery that Wrenn supplied the opioids that led the victim to their death.

Friday’s alert said Hillsborough Police are still searching for information related to the overdose death and opioid distribution. Anyone who may have information is encouraged to contact Investigator Christian Gray by email or phone at 919-296-9541. Anonymous crime tips can be reported by calling 919-296-9555 or by using the See it, Say it, Send it app and website.

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