Man convicted of 2016 overdose death in Sunset Beach

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Columbus County man is headed to prison after being convicted to a 2016 overdose death that happened in Sunset Beach.

Brunswick County District Attorney Jon David says Hunter McCrae Morgan, of Lake Waccamaw, was sentenced to at least 17 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

Morgan was indicted on August 17, 2017 for involuntary manslaughter for the overdose death of John Gabriel Langdon that happened on December 16, 2016.

Morgan had purchased what he believed to be heroin from an unknown dealer in Columbus County and later injected Langdon with it at a condominium in Sunset Beach.

Upon injection, Langdon began to vomit and lost consciousness. Assuming it was a heroin overdose, a friend attempted to revive Langdon with three doses of naloxone with no effect. A short time later Langdon was pronounced dead by emergency responders.

A State Bureau of Investigation analysis of the syringe used by Morgan revealed that it contained the then non-controlled substance acrylfentyl and not heroin. An autopsy further revealed that Langdon died from acrylfentyl toxicity. Naloxone can be ineffective for many of the fast acting and dangerous fentanyl derivatives.

The case was investigated by the Sunset Beach Police Department.