Sometimes at night, Dustin Carswell still expects to see his late stepdaughter walk through the front door.
Hayli Surayah White was 22 years old when she died Feb. 8, 2024, from an overdose in Concord.
White grew up in Valdese and graduated from Draughn High School with honors in 2019. She had been working at PetSmart and hoped to go to school to become a dog groomer, her sister Makenzie Kepler said.
“She was the most loving person in the world,” Kepler said. “She’d do anything for anybody, and it got her in trouble a couple times, but she didn’t care. She was my best friend.”
Her death was a shock to the family.
“It’s still shock and disbelief to this day,” Carswell said. “Because you expect to see her come through the door and she don’t, and it just don’t seem real still.”
Arrest made
Almost a year after White’s death, a Granite Falls woman was indicted by a grand jury for death by distribution on Dec. 2, according to court records.
Jessica Marie McMahon was taken into custody Monday, Feb. 24, said Capt. Shelly Hartley with the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office.
She’s due in Caldwell County Superior Court on May 5 for the death by distribution case, according to court records. Her bond was set at $500,000.
McMahon has previous drug-related charges.
Just days after White’s death, McMahon was arrested by Caldwell County deputies on Feb. 12 for trafficking heroin or opium, according to a report from WACB.
Then, in June 2024, McMahon was on probation for possession with intent to sell a schedule II controlled substance when she was charged again for trafficking fentanyl, possession with intent to sell and deliver a schedule II controlled substance, maintaining a dwelling for controlled substances and a probation violation, according to an article in the Hickory Daily Record.
During that arrest, agents found about 24 grams of fentanyl hidden in a container that resembled a household cleaning product, the article said.
She’s currently on parole for a 2021 offense of possession with intent to sell a schedule II controlled substance and possession of a schedule II controlled substance, according to records from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
“Over the past six months the citizens of Caldwell County have seen my dedication and passion to stop the flow of dangerous drugs into and through Caldwell County,” said Caldwell County Sheriff Kevin Bean. “The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office and I are dedicated to seeing that drug dealers are charged and convicted of death by distribution after they sell their poison to our children and family members and their actions result in a death. It is my belief that these drug dealers should be punished with the same punishment as someone convicted of first-degree murder and sent away for life.”
Charges won’t bring White back
The family felt a little relief Monday when they found out about the charges issued against McMahon, but nothing will bring White back, Kepler said.
“It’s not gonna bring her back. It’s not going to change anything, but it shouldn’t have to happen to anybody else,” Kepler said.
Carswell said that’s the family’s main goal.
“We just don’t want this to happen to another family,” Carswell said. “We understand that it’s not going to bring Hayli back and we just want other families to not have to go through this that we went through for the last year.”
Her absence was top of mind on Tuesday as some of White’s family gathered under the picnic shelter at McGalliard Falls Park in Valdese. Kepler, surrounded by photos of her sister, said it was White’s favorite park.
“I just wish I could hear her laugh one more time,” Kepler said.