OVERDOSE SUSPECTED IN DEATH

Victim ID'd As UNC Senior

CARRBORO -- Police are investigating the possibility that a 20-year-old UNC
student found dead Friday morning at his Carrboro residence died from a
cocaine overdose or from a deadly mix of cocaine and another drug, such as
the prescription painkiller OxyContin.

Authorities on Sunday identified the victim as Daniel Scott Walker, a
senior journalism and economics major at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. He was found dead about 10:30 a.m. in his upstairs bedroom
at 92 Pine Hill Drive, Capt. Joel Booker said.

Police found drugs in Walker's room, Booker said. After interviewing some
of Walker's friends, police suspect the student may have ingested cocaine
mixed with another drug.

Last year, 21 people died from OxyContin overdoses in North Carolina.

Although police will have to wait for the toxicology report to know exactly
what killed Walker, Booker urged the community to be careful.

"We want there to be a certain awareness and concern in the community that
there could be some tainted drugs out there," he said.

If Walker died from mixed drugs, police wouldn't know whether he bought
them that way, Booker said.

Booker gave the following account of the events leading to Walker's death:

On Thursday night, Walker attended one or more parties at which he drank
alcohol. He returned to his off-campus home during the night, made a few
telephone calls, and could be heard moving around in his attic bedroom
until 5 a.m.

When Walker's roommates found his body Friday morning, there were no signs
of struggle or foul play, Booker said. Walker's body was taken to the state
medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill for an autopsy.

On Sunday, no one answered the door at the house where Walker lived.

Born in Columbia, S.C., Walker graduated from Hendersonville High, his
aunt, Beth Todd, said Sunday. He belonged to Hendersonville First United
Methodist Church and Sigma Nu fraternity and was an avid hiker. He is
survived by his parents and his 26-year-old brother.

Sue Kitchen, vice chancellor for student affairs at UNC, said she can't
recall a student death caused by drugs in her five years at the university.

"Certainly this is a tragedy to lose such a young life," Kitchen said.
"We're still waiting for information."

The university runs a Center for Healthy Student Behaviors, where students
can find help for drug and alcohol addictions.

On Thursday, a China Grove man died of an apparent OxyContin overdose. The
drug, a potent painkiller, gives a euphoric high similar to that of heroin.
OxyContin abusers often chew the tablets or crush the tablets and snort the
powder, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The maker of OxyContin has been hit with at least 13 lawsuits from people
who say they have become addicted to the painkiller and others who want to
hold the company responsible for an alarming wave of overdoses and deaths
among abusers.

Many of the plaintiffs say they received OxyContin legitimately and became
addicted by taking the prescribed dose. Other lawsuits seek to hold the
company responsible for illegal use of the drug, which has become a deadly
scourge in some parts of the country.