A Charlotte man is facing death by distribution charges for his alleged role in the narcotics transaction that resulted in another man’s death last year.
Fernandon Alonso Alvarez, 36, of Charlotte, was arrrested on by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office on May 21 and given a $100,000 bond. He is currently being held in the Rowan County Detention Center.
According to information from the City of Kannapolis, on Oct. 30, 2025, the Kannapolis Police Department responded to a residence on East 23rd Street for a reported overdose. Officers arrived to find Joshua Ryan Dayvault, 36, deceased inside the home from an apparent overdose. Following up on leads, investigators identified Alvarez as an alleged distributor of the substances that caused the fatal overdose.
Death by distribution is a charged in North Carolina that resulted from 2019 legislation to combat the opioid epidemic that was claiming thousands of North Carolinians lives every year. According to information from the University of North Carolina School of Government’s Criminal Law Blog, G.S. 14-18.4, passed in 2019, made it a felony to sell a controlled substance that causes the death of a user.
“The 2019 law made it a Class C felony to sell a qualifying drug, including an opioid, cocaine or methamphetamine thereby proximately causing the death of a user,” the blog said.
