What Happened...

Courtney Heater's Story

(As quoted from CBS News Chicago story “2 Years After Courtney Heater’s Death In North Carolina, Rainbow PUSH Coalition Is Joining Her Mother In Demanding Answers About What Happened”)

“Shortly after Courtney Heater’s boyfriend made a frantic 911 call, an ambulance rushed to a rural North Carolina home. EMTs pronounced her dead at 4 a.m. on Feb 2, 2020.

That night will haunt her mother, Debbie, for the rest of her days.

‘How could she be gone? She’s 24 years old,’ Debbie Heater told CBS 2’s Tim McNicholas last year. ‘She was an athlete. She was healthy.’

Debbie Heater lives in Plainfield, but Courtney moved in 2018 to Columbus County, North Carolina to live with a boyfriend.

In late 2019, Courtney sent her mother photos showing her with a bruised eye, blood on her face, and other injuries. Reports from the sheriff’s office and a hospital said those injuries resulted from a domestic assault.

Courtney would die at the home the couple shared months later, on Feb. 2, 2020. Her autopsy documented more abuse, including blunt force trauma, but the cause of death was accidental fentanyl and heroin overdose.

And in a recorded call with the family, that wrapped things up for the sheriff’s department.

‘Based on the Autopsy, there is no further investigation for a homicide,’ the lead detective said on the call.

‘Just because someone has drugs in their system does not mean that they took it,’ Debbie Heater said.”

The Cover-Up of a MURDER in Nakina, North Carolina

Debbie is demanding a more thorough investigation into Courtney’s boyfriend and the role he may have played in her death. 

Along with other organizations, she is asking the North Carolina’s Attorney General to reopen the case and finally learn what really happened to Courtney.

Over the last couple of years since Courtney’s death, Debbie has subpoenaed documents, hired private investigators, hired attorneys and called local law enforcement in North Carolina, but is still not able to get answers.

And even worse, she is still does not know exactly what happened the night of Courtney’s death.

Courtney loved to play rugby, bike ride and tailgate with her friends. However, the images she sent her mother during the last few months of her life showed Courtney in a different light.

The CBS News Chicago, in it’s story titled, “A Year After Daughter’s Death In North Carolina, Grieving Mom Still Waiting For Answers” stated,

“A police report points to Courtney being assaulted by her boyfriend. So do hospital emergency room paperwork and text messages.

‘It’s devastating,’ Debbie said.

Six months after Courtney’s death, Debbie finally received the autopsy report. Noted in the report: more abuse, including blunt force trauma to the head, chest, abdomen, pelvis, and extremities.

However, the cause of death was ruled to be an accidental heroin and fentanyl overdose.

Debbie and Cassidy [Courtney’s close friend] said they’re worried Courtney’s boyfriend might have forced her to take the drugs.

‘Just because someone has drugs in their system does not mean that they took it,’ Cassidy said.

But the lead detective on Courtney’s case seems to disagree.

‘Based on the autopsy there is no further investigation for a homicide,’ said Columbus County Sheriff’s Chief of Detectives Paul Rockenbach.

To help her keep track of Courtney’s case, Debbie recorded her calls with the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office.

‘I’m not gonna sit here and say something didn’t happen,’ Rockenbach said. ‘I would have the same questions you do.’

Debbie said the answers she’s received are inconsistent. So are the answers CBS 2 received.

Rockenbach said the department offered to cover the cost of Debbie’s flight to North Carolina, but she said that’s not true.

He also told us all nearby neighbors were interviewed.

CBS 2 reached out to a neighbor who lives just 243 feet away. She said she’s never been contacted.

‘It’s like [Courtney] wasn’t worth anything,’ Debbie said.

Unable to get clear answers about where the investigation stands, Debbie filed a subpoena for the sheriff’s department’s case file, but all she could obtain was the 911 call, a two-page police report, and an EMT report that’s missing the third page.

‘Every day I think I’m going to know today, something’s going to come in the mail, or I’m going to get an email or phone call. We’re going to know today. And at the end of the day, it doesn’t happen,’ Debbie said.”

For other evidence in the case, take a look at the Evidence page. (Note: some of the images may be disturbing).

Learn More From Other Sources

Media Coverage & Podcast Episodes

MJA Podcast/ Their Death is in Question/ The Mysterious Death OF Courtney Heater. 

Astrology And Death Of Courtney Heater
CBS News coverage of Courtney's Death investigation a year later
(Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/a-year-after-daughters-death-in-north-carolina-grieving-mom-still-waiting-for-answers-its-devastating/)
A Year After Daughter’s Death In North Carolina, Grieving Mom Still Waiting For Answers.
READ FULL ARTICLE…
Mom Getting Help From Rainbow PUSH
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/a-year-after-daughters-death-in-north-carolina-grieving-mom-still-waiting-for-answers-its-devastating/)

2 Years After Courtney Heater’s Death In North Carolina, Rainbow PUSH Coalition Is Joining Her Mother In Demanding Answers About What Happened
READ FULL ARTICLE…

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