Man convicted in fentanyl death of teenager

A Rutherford County man was convicted in the death of his 16-year-old girlfriend, who died of fentanyl poisoning after ingesting a pill he helped her buy.

Nicholas Ivey, 19, arranged the sale of pills to Abi Saunderson, a sophomore at Kings Mountain High School, on Sept. 25, 2022, District Attorney Travis Page said. Abi's older sister found her dead in her bed the morning of Sept. 26. The pills, it turned out, contained fentanyl.

Ivey spoke with police several times, eventually calling a detective in October and confessing to his role in Saunderson's death.

"Mr. Ivey himself actually walked out to the car with Abi, handed money from Abi to the dealer and delivered some fentanyl pills to Abi, and she later died as a result of ingesting those," Page said.

Another man, Deontae Jaquise Miller, 24, of Rutherfordton, also was charged in Abi's death. Miller faces charges of death by distribution, felony conspiracy, and felony conspiracy to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance.

He is jailed on a $500,000 bond.

Ivey pleaded guilty to felony charges of conspiracy and conspiracy to sell and deliver a controlled substance.

Ivey was also initially charged with death by distribution, but that charge was dropped. As part of his plea arrangement, he agreed to testify against Miller, and Judge David Phillips sentenced him a total of 16-38 months in prison.

Ivey's attorney, Larry Hoyle, said that Ivey regrets the role he played in Abi's death.

"He has cried real tears in my presence as a result of what happened," Hoyle said.

Ivey initially appeared to be smirking when the court hearing began, but by the end, he wasn't smiling.

Abi's mother, Tracy Saunderson Ross, called the conviction a win.

"He didn't get much time, but some is better than none," she said.

Ross brought a plastic bag with her to court.

In it was a lock of Abi's hair, something Abi herself had saved after her last haircut because she liked the way it curled.

"I have one last physical piece with me… This is the last thing I will ever touch of my baby girl. She will be with me everywhere," Ross said.

Abi was well liked and spirited. At 16, she was tiny, less than 90 pounds and not even five feet tall. Ross believes her daughter thought she was taking a Percocet for muscle spasms in her legs.

"She was my last child, my youngest… She was a character. She was fun all the time, loved everybody," Ross said. "She was a little light in everybody's life, anybody that met her."

Abi was one of an increasing number of Gaston County people who died of fentanyl poisoning. Last year, from January through June, there were 46 fentanyl-related deaths, out of a total of 60 drug related deaths in Gaston County, according to the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics.

Since her daughter's death, Ross has been on a mission. She's preparing to start a nonprofit, Abi's Angels, that will allow her to go into schools and share Abi's story in an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl. Abi's face is on 22 billboards across the United States, "and she just hit Times Square. She was live in Times Square," Ross said.

Ross said that she does not think Ivey meant to kill her daughter. He wrote her a letter from jail several months ago.

"I know in his heart he did not mean to kill Abi. He did love her. But he set the deal up, and it killed Abi," she said.

Barb Walsh, executive director of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina, accompanied Ross to court. Walsh has been working to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl since her 24-year-old daughter, Sophia, died of fentanyl poisoning in 2021 after drinking from a tainted water bottle.

Walsh said that nobody was charged in her daughter's death, which occurred in Watauga County.

"My purpose today is to support Tracy," she said. "I heal because I'm with her. I heal when I'm around other families. Nobody else understands our grief. It's an acceptance that we can't get from anybody else."

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Man convicted in fentanyl death of teenager