RADIO HOST FINDS BROTHER-IN-LAW DEAD

Mark Davis says house guest had used heroin before; overdose suspected

BEDFORD - The live-in brother-in-law of radio talk-show host Mark Davis died
of an apparent drug overdose Friday morning in Mr. Davis' Bedford home.

Kevin T. Graves, 29, brother of Mr. Davis' wife, Kathi, was found by Mr.
Davis in a bathroom, medical examiner's records show. Authorities were
called about 8:45 a.m. The official cause of death has not been determined,
but officials said it appears to have been an overdose.

Mr. Graves, a truck driver, had been living with the Davises for most of the
year. The couple had asked him to leave once last year when he relapsed and
used heroin, Mr. Davis said.

"We had a condition that he had to stay clean," said Mr. Davis, host of The
Mark Davis Show on WBAP-AM (820). "Things appeared to be going real well. He
had a job."

The conservative commentator has frequently addressed addiction on his show
weekday mornings, especially in light of the area's numerous heroin overdose
deaths. But he said he knows now what it feels like to lose a relative to
drugs.

"A month ago, I was talking about heroin deaths in the news, and this
morning I'm talking about a heroin death in my home," he said. "It makes me
identify with all the families who live with someone who can't beat this
habit."

Like many other addicts, he said, Mr. Graves had trouble admitting that his
drug use could kill him. Mr. Graves had chalked up recent heroin deaths to
the users' lack of experience, said Mr. Davis, who also writes a
twice-weekly column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"When [former Dallas Cowboys lineman] Mark Tuinei died, that hit him hard,"
Mr. Davis said. "We looked at him and said, 'See,' and he said the people
who died don't know what they are doing."

Belita Nelson, founder of the drug-addiction support group Starfish
Foundation, said drug users often believe they are invincible when they have
no way of gauging the risks they face.

"They think that. They really do believe that," Ms. Nelson said. "It makes
my blood run cold when they say that."

Users often mistakenly believe they can determine the purity of drugs by
looking at them.

Authorities have said some recent heroin deaths can be attributed to more
potent drugs entering the market. Addicts accustomed to a certain purity
level often overdose when the substances they ingest are purer or processed
differently.

Northeast Tarrant County has seen more than 20 overdose deaths in the last
two years. And over the last three years, 18 teens with ties to Plano have
died of heroin overdoses.

"If someone is using drugs and they don't believe that will kill you, think
again," Mr. Davis said. "There is a dead body in my home that proves
otherwise."

Julio Mercado, special agent in charge of the Dallas office of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration, said that even with heightened publicity about
drug-related deaths, parents often are still slow to react appropriately.

"A lot of parents are in denial," he said. "We are in denial."

Mr. Davis said even a strong approach sometimes isn't enough to get a user
to give up his habit.

"We got tough with Kevin; that was the only reason he was here," Mr. Davis
said. "He had gone a long time without using, [but] he went back on it for
one time."