Marion Man Charged With Felony Death by Distribution in 2025 Nebo Overdose

James Curtis Johnson, 46, of Marion was arrested March 24 and charged with felony Death by Distribution in connection with the fatal fentanyl and cocaine overdose of Garrett Shepard, 22, whose body was found in Nebo on July 10, 2025. Johnson is being held on a $600,000 secured bond.

The McDowell County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest after Detective Michael Vaughn received complete autopsy results in February 2026, roughly seven months after Shepard's death. The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner's toxicology report concluded Shepard died from toxic levels of fentanyl and cocaine. Investigators found no signs of trauma on the body.

Vaughn determined that Johnson's distribution of illicit drugs to Shepard was the proximate cause of his death, satisfying the legal standard for North Carolina's Death by Distribution statute. The law, which took effect December 1, 2019, allows prosecutors to charge a drug distributor with a felony when their sale or transfer of a controlled substance directly causes a fatal overdose. Since the statute became effective, 92 percent of North Carolina's 42 prosecutorial districts have filed at least one such charge.

Chief Deputy Nathan Mace, in the sheriff's office release accompanying the arrest, warned that illicit fentanyl carries deadly risk and that those who sell or share it face criminal accountability when a death results. Mace said the office intends to hold responsible parties accountable and will continue pursuing investigations into drug distribution linked to fatalities in McDowell County.

Shepard was 22 years old. His death, and the eight-month road from discovery to charges, reflects the investigative timeline that Death by Distribution cases typically require: evidence must flow from toxicology and medical examiner findings before prosecutors can tie a sale to a specific death.

That timeline plays out against a backdrop of acute local loss. McDowell County recorded an overdose death rate of 45.9 per 100,000 residents in 2022, more than double the national rate of 21.6 that year. Statewide, the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner documented nearly 19,800 fentanyl-involved fatalities between 2013 and August 2025.

Johnson's case will proceed through the McDowell County criminal justice system. The $600,000 secured bond signals the severity with which investigators and prosecutors are treating the charge.

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW NEEDS HELP

McDowell EMS operates a Community Paramedic Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) that can initiate medication-assisted treatment in the field and connect patients with long-term outpatient care. The Foothills Health Department at 408 Spaulding Road in Marion distributes naloxone and fentanyl test strips; call 828-652-6811. McLeod Addictive Disease Center at 117 Medical Court Drive in Marion provides licensed opioid treatment and medication-assisted treatment on an insurance or self-pay basis; call 828-659-3966. To report drug distribution activity, contact the McDowell County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division at 828-652-2237, or dial 911 in an emergency.