Family wants someone held accountable for 19-year-old daughter’s death

CHARLOTTE — The family of a UNC Chapel Hill student who died from an overdose is fighting for justice.

Elizabeth “Gracie” Burton, of Charlotte, was a 19-year-old freshman at UNC Chapel Hill when she died in March. She was found in a dorm room on Duke University’s campus with alcohol, cocaine, and fentanyl in her system, according to the state medical examiner.

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No one has been charged in her death.

Her family was in federal court in Greensboro Wednesday in connection with the case.

The Burton family attorney told Channel 9′s Evan Donovan that they don’t feel like they’re getting justice for their daughter.

People who knew Burton said she was a beautiful person inside and out but went down the wrong path.

The autopsy report stated she was barely breathing in the dorm room when she was found.

Chris Adkins, her family’s attorney, said that the autopsy is one of many mistakes made following her death.

“They didn’t include the fentanyl as a cause of death, even though it’s clearly in the report,” Adkins said. “So, no one’s been charged in regard to Gracie’s death.”

Adkins asked a judge in court Wednesday to consider the Burton family as victims in the federal case against Patrick Rowland, a former Duke student who was allegedly partying with Burton the night she overdosed.

However, Rowland’s federal charges are broad, which allege that he used a cellphone to buy drugs in the seven months leading up to Burton’s death.

Court documents state Rowland bought the drugs from Cye Frasier, known as the “Durham Barber.”

Prosecutors have charged Frasier and Carlisa Allen in the death of 23-year-old Joshua Zinner, of Raleigh, who overdosed within days of Burton’s death.

However, Adkins said neither Duke University campus police nor the Durham Police Department investigated Burton’s death so no one has been charged on the state or federal level with her death.

“Why didn’t Duke (police) investigators or Durham police investigate Gracie’s death?” Donovan asked Adkins. “And why haven’t state prosecutors bought a state charge here?”

“You know, that’s a good question,” Adkins said. “We don’t know. I don’t know why Duke did not pursue an investigation or make public any kind of incident report about what happened.”

Duke University is within the Durham city limits.

However, Durham police told Channel 9 that the Duke University Police Department is the primary agency responsible for conducting investigations into incidents that occur on campus.

Duke University has not responded to multiple email requests for information from Channel 9.

Adkins said the family plans to file a motion to become victims in the Fraser/Allen case, as well. They are scheduled to go to trial in November on charges that they sold drugs that killed Zinner.

UNC sent a statement: “The university does not send campus-wide notifications of student deaths, as these messages can be triggering and are often more harmful than helpful.”

The school also said it respects the privacy and wishes of families, in regard to public announcements.

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