NORTH CAROLINA — Two inmates have been charged in connection with the death of a fellow inmate who was found unresponsive earlier this month at the Rockingham County Detention Center.
According to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), 39-year-old Mark Avery Martin died on July 7 while being held alone in a one-person cell. The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office reported that Martin was found unresponsive during meal time. Emergency personnel were called, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Following Martin’s death, the SBI launched an investigation and presented their findings to the Rockingham County District Attorney’s Office.
As a result, inmates Devonte Kiawan McCain and Timothy Jamel Buck were charged with felony conspiracy and felony death by distribution.
Court records indicate that Martin died after taking fentanyl allegedly supplied by McCain and Buck. It remains unclear what charges Martin was originally jailed on.
McCain had been in custody since November 2024 on drug charges and has since been transferred to Craven Correctional Institution. Buck entered the jail in July 2025 on charges related to drugs, firearms, and alcohol.
Rockingham County is located along the North Carolina-Virginia border, about 40 minutes north of Greensboro. The case remains under investigation.
