Man pleads to Involuntary Manslaughter in Rocky Point overdose death
PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A judge sentenced a man to prison after he pled guilty to his role in an overdose death.
On October 27, Grayson Lancaster plead guilty to Sale of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, Possession with Intent to Sell, Manufacture, and Delivery of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, and Involuntary Manslaughter.
A judge sentenced Lancaster to at least 27 months in prison. He will be placed on supervised probation for at least a year following his release, and as a special condition of the probation case, Lancaster must report to a residential recovery facility.
On September 19, 2022, Justin Barnes, 32, died as a result of fentanyl toxicity. A blue pill marked “M” on one side and “30” on the other was found near Barnes. That pill was sent to a lab and
was determined to contain fentanyl.
Later, investigators discovered digital evidence linking Lancaster to the sale of several pills containing fentanyl to Barnes.
Lancaster would later be arrested on October 11, 2023, for charges relating to the overdose of Barnes. At the time of his arrest, a cell phone found on Lancaster contained evidence that Lancaster
purchased a quantity of pills from Ethan Faircloth and others just before the death of Barnes.
Ethan Faircloth recently pleaded guilty in an unrelated overdose case on October 13, involving the death of Dennis “Nash” Connor.
