Cierra Underwood
Today my former doctor occurred to me - Dr. Underwood. Why had I stopped seeing him? Hmm... I think he died. He was a bit mysterious, having a something of a chip on his shoulder. I wondered why. One thing I liked about him, besides being a good doctor, was the lack of arrogance. In fact, I had heard that he graduated at the top of his class. Another doctor was disparaging of him when I mentioned my treatment. The rumor was that he was a drunk. I decided to google him and see what turned up. Not much, but I did find his obituary.
In reading his obituary, I saw that he was survived by members of his family, except his daughter. Who was this daughter? I wondered. I knew her name, but the tragedy was so long ago now that I couldn't find anything. I think I had heard that when his daughter graduated from college he had given her a beautiful car, and she died almost immediately after that in an accident in her beautiful car.
Googling his daughter turned up many other tragedies though. There are many people named Underwood, I guess. One of them was the tragedy of Cierra Underwood. I read her obituary. The usual vague description of a wonderful person that died at age 24. But I didn't have much trouble finding out what happened. Why did I want to know? Curiosity. Cierra had given birth to a daughter in December of 2022, two months before her own death. The father wasn't mentioned in the obituary, so there seemed to be trouble in paradise. I googled, "How did Cierra Underwood die?" and was surprised to find answers. She had taken what she thought was cocaine, but in fact, someone had sold her fentanyl instead. Then she went to her death in the long line of others who had made the same mistake.
She was not alone in her sad death. The father of her daughter was with her, along with someone name J. U. J. U.? J? Underwood? J. U. Cierra Underwood, and Michael Arrington, the baby's father, had all taken the fentanyl thinking it was cocaine. J. U. woke up ill the next day and Cierra and Michael had both died. It made me especially sad to think of Cierra's baby being left orphaned. The good news was that the drug dealer that sold the fentanyl to them was identified by J. U. and was recently sentenced to 18 years in prison.
And what interested me in this sad case? I guess just the chaos of the fentanyl crisis lately. And the sad story itself. I never did find what I was looking for about Dr. Underwood though. But I already mostly know about that.
Martinsville Man Sentenced to 18 Years for Distributing Double, Fatal Dose of Fentanyl
ROANOKE, Va. – A Martinsville, Virginia man, who distributed cocaine that was laced with fentanyl to a pair of individuals that later died from overdoses, was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in federal prison.
Okoyte Devon Gaston, 31, pled guilty in September 2024 to one count of distributing fentanyl.
According to court documents, in February 2023 Gaston, a known drug dealer in Southside Virginia, arranged to sell what was supposed to be one-fourth an ounce of cocaine powder to victim “C.U.” Unbeknownst to C.U., the cocaine was laced with fentanyl.
Gaston met C.U. and her boyfriend, victim “M.A.” and another individual, J.U. in the parking lot of a Sheetz gas station in Franklin County, Virginia. Gaston sold the group what they believed was cocaine for $350.
Shortly after meeting with Gaston C.U., M.A., and J.U. all used some of the drugs they purchased from Gaston. The group then made a short drive back to C.U.’s Franklin County trailer home.
Once there, J.U. said he did not feel well and went inside to go to sleep, leaving C.U. and M.A. alone in the car.
The next morning, J.U. woke up disoriented, nauseous, and incoherent. He found C.U. and M.A. unresponsive. M.A. was still in the passenger seat of the vehicle and C.U. was on the ground outside of the driver’s door.
J.U. called 911 and when police arrived, they pronounced C.U. and M.A. deceased. The medical examiner later determined that both C.U. and M.A. died of acute fentanyl and cocaine toxicity.
Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee and Ibrar A. Mian, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Washington Division made the announcement.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case with the assistance of the Virginia State Police, the Roanoke City Police, and the Roanoke County Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly McGann and Keith Parrella are prosecuting the case.
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