Chattanooga Times Free Press

Fentanyl likely to blame for 3 overdose deaths in Walker

BY ANDREW WILKINS STAFF WRITER Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com.

LaFAYETTE, Ga. — Three people were found dead from suspected fentanyl overdoses Monday in Walker County, Georgia, officials said.

“Today is another sad day in Walker County,” Sheriff Steve Wilson said at a news conference Monday. “We discovered three bodies in a home in the Kensington community of Walker County.”

Wilson said based on initial examination of the scene, the most likely cause of death was fentanyl exposure by inhaling or smoking the synthetic opioid. Dried psychedelic mushrooms, marijuana and methamphetamines were also found in the home, he said.

The deceased were identified as Donald Ray Wallin, 70, of LaFayette; Kevin Leroy Walker, 55, also of LaFayette; and Carla Joann Quillen, 37, of Menlo, Georgia.

Around 9 a.m., a caller reported three people were unresponsive at a Kensington home. First responders found three bodies, and it appeared they had been deceased a few hours, Wilson said. First aid was not administered because it was obvious they were dead.

Wilson said no arrests had been made and the Sheriff’s Office has no leads on who supplied the fentanyl.

“It is our desire to search out and find the persons responsible for the drug being at this home,” Wilson said, “for the individual that ultimately sold the product and caused the deaths.”

Wilson said anonymous tips can be submitted at the Sheriff’s Office website.

A triple fentanyl overdose occurred Sunday in Catoosa County, but Wilson said he knew of no connection to the deaths in Walker County. The three in Catoosa County were revived because an opioid-overdose antidote was administered in time.

When asked if it was a new type of fentanyl, Caine Railey, commander of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force, said the fatal drug was the same drug as before — but the supply has increased recently. Railey was also at the LaFayette news conference.

“Fentanyl’s potent anyway,” Railey said. “It only takes two milligrams for someone to overdose and pass away.”

Railey said local law enforcement is fighting back through education, enforcement and by talking about the dangers of drugs at local schools.

In Chickamauga last week, Railey said law enforcement seized more than a kilogram of fentanyl and a pill press. He said last week’s bust was the first pill press ever seized by the task force in Northwest Georgia.

Wilson said the Sheriff’s Office makes drug arrests almost daily, but fentanyl is still taking too many lives in the region — and throughout the nation. He said he was thankful to have taken a major supplier off the streets with last week’s arrest and the pill press seizure.

Local law enforcement is doing all they know to do, but Wilson said the drug crisis persists.

“You can preach and hammer home all day long about how dangerous this drug is, but unfortunately the person addicted to these drugs won’t listen to you,” Wilson said. “Addiction overcomes the mind.”

Fentanyl exposure can also be a threat to friends and family members, so Wilson urged caution.

Even law enforcement is at risk, and Wilson said one of his deputies died in 2020 due to a fentanyl exposure.

United in Recovery, a LaFayette-based nonprofit organization that assists people with substance use disorders, will hand out fentanyl test strips and opioid-overdose antidote Tuesday at the East Ridge Dunkin’ at 6408 Ringgold Road, Suite A, according to Jennifer Jenkins, the group’s executive director and resident of Armuchee. The group will announce a time on its Facebook page.

“It’s a battle, it’s an ongoing battle,” Jenkins said at LaFayette’s Joe Stock Memorial Park while handing out test strips. “All of us are in recovery, so we know what it’s like to be out there.”

United in Recovery just wants to provide tools to make sure people don’t die from drugs, because Jenkins said she knows everyone isn’t ready to quit. For those looking for advice on quitting drugs, Jenkins said United in Recovery workers offer meetings and one-on-one support and counseling.

“You can preach and hammer home all day long about how dangerous this drug is, but unfortunately the person addicted to these drugs won’t listen to you. Addiction overcomes the mind.”

— WALKER COUNTY SHERIFF STEVE WILSON

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2023-01-31T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-31T08:00:00.0000000Z

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