WOMAN, 88, WON'T FACE DRUG CHARGE

Home Was Used For Trafficking

HILLSBOROUGH -- Prosecutors on Thursday dropped a drug charge against
an ailing 88-year-old woman cited for maintaining her home for the
use, storage or sale of controlled substances. Police served Lucressia
Fearrington with a summons in April, saying their other attempts to
stop drug activity at her home in the Northside neighborhood of Chapel
Hill had been unsuccessful. They said they feared drug dealers were
taking advantage of her and that they hoped to tap into the resources
of the criminal justice and social services systems to get the woman,
who uses a wheelchair, out of a potentially dangerous situation.

Fearrington was not accused of using or selling drugs herself. She was
accused of keeping a home she knew was being used for drug activity.

"The department's goal in citing Ms. Fearrington was to eliminate the
drug activity in the house and to help her," said Jane Cousins, a
police spokeswoman. "And that has happened; both of those have been
accomplished."

Fearrington no longer lives in the house at 602 Nunn St. According to
court documents, she suffers from end-stage renal disease and is
receiving medical care outside her home.

Earlier this week, Fearrington's daughter was appointed her guardian
and given the authority to make decisions about her medical care and
home. The order said Fearrington was unable to make informed decisions
on those matters herself, and her well-being and estate appeared to be
at risk.

The paperwork dismissing her case cited these reasons along with her
inability to assist her lawyer in her defense.

Neither Fearrington nor her daughter could be reached for comment.

Fearrington's home had become a focal point for drug activity in the
neighborhood within the last year, Maj. Tony Oakley said. Police
records indicate that more than a dozen people have been arrested at
the house since the start of 2003. Many of the charges were for drug
offenses, but there were others, including probation violation,
trespassing and resisting arrest.

Last week, twin teenage brothers were arrested at the house during a
police raid. Rodrico Lee Jackson and Antonio Lee Jackson, both 16,
were charged with maintaining a dwelling for the use, storage or sale
of drugs. Antonio was charged also with possession of counterfeit crack.

A judge this week permanently barred the twins and nine others from
the property.

Fearrington's daughter has given police the authority to ban others
from the property on her behalf, Cousins said.

Police have received no complaints about the house since the raid, she
said.

Robert Trenkle, Fearrington's court-appointed lawyer, said his client,
like any elderly person in a wheelchair, wasn't able to do anything
about people in her yard or inside. He also disputed that she had any
knowledge of drug activity around her.