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Tests confirm 12-year-old died of Methadone overdose

The state medical examiner confirmed Friday that Caleb Wayne Bevil's April death resulted from pills he took at home. methadone.

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DUNN, N.C. — The state medical examiner confimed Friday that Caleb Wayne Bevil's death was caused by methadone.

Caleb, 12, died April 26, at WakeMed in Raleigh, three days after he was found unconscious in his Sampson County home, authorities said.

Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton reported at the time that Caleb appeared to have ingested methadone pills. The drug is a painkiller that also is used to help heroin addicts break their drug addictions.

Caleb lived with his mother, Tina Lynn Bevil, and her boyfriend, James Hardee, and three siblings.

Capt. Eric Pope, of the Sampson County Sheriff's Office, said Hardee had a prescription for methadone, and authorities were investigating whether it was his pills that Caleb took.

No charges have been filed, but Pope indicated that the results of the autopsy might yield some.

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