Woman says she tried to save friends who fatally overdosed in Burke County

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — A woman told Channel 9 she rushed to a Burke County home over the weekend and tried to save the lives of her friends who had overdosed.

A third person was able to survive.

Pachea Tomlinson told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty she’s devastated about what happened. She was on her way home from work Saturday evening when she got a call that something might be wrong at the mobile home, which is along Airport Rhodhiss Road.

When she went through that door, Tomlinson said she found three friends who were overdosing inside, including Jonathon Willis and Shannon Stowe. Tomlinson said she pulled them next to each other and began CPR.

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“But there was no Narcan that I’d seen, nowhere. And there was only so much I can do,” Tomlinson said.

Narcan is an opioid overdose treatment that, when administered early enough, can save lives. Deputies in Burke County said they used Narcan 14 times last year.

Tomlinson said though she saw deputies try Narcan with her friends, both died at the home.

Investigators believe fentanyl may be responsible.

“This affected so many families at one time -- it’s ridiculous,” Tomlinson said. “Just this little community right here, it broke everybody’s heart.”

Cathy Winkler is one of those people. Shannon Stowe lived with her at one time and she treated her like family.

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“If there’s anything that comes out of this, hopefully people that was close to them will think twice about what they’re doing,” Winkler said.

Investigators told Faherty that Burke County is averaging more than 500 overdoses per year. They believe the availability of Narcan has prevented more deaths, but even last year, 27 people died from overdoses there.

Pachea Tomlinson spoke with Faherty hoping to make a difference.

“There’s more people that are going to die. There’s more of my friends and my family who are going to pass away, and I don’t want to see it no more,” she said.

Deputies say it may be months before the toxicology results come back.

So far, no one has been charged in connection with the two deaths.

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