Celeste Fussell called Glenda Mae Lee her children's "other grandmama," a neighbor who was always there when she was coping with a brain tumor. So when Lee got a migraine headache in July, Fussell wanted to ease her friend's pain.

Fussell shared her cancer pain medication, which comes in a container on a stick. Though people call it a lollipop, it delivers fentanyl, a powerful narcotic.

"I was trying to help," Fussell said in an interview at her home last week. "They wouldn't give her anything."

But Lee, 54, died from what authorities said was a drug overdose. Fussell, 43, a former elementary school teacher and mother of three sons, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and several drug offenses. Arrested Jan. 19, she was released on $50,000 bail pending trial.

"It's sad both ways for both sides," said Fussell's attorney, Reginald Kenan of Warsaw. "It's one that tears your heart."

Investigators said the case illustrates the hazards of sharing prescription medication.

"The last thing you need to be doing is sharing drugs," said District Attorney G. Dewey Hudson Jr., Duplin County prosecutor. He said Fussell was not charged with murder because investigators have found no evidence of malicious intent.

The Lee and Fussell families live across the road from each other in the Albertson community in Duplin County, about 70 miles southeast of Raleigh.

Fussell's husband, Robert, is the minister of Snow Hill Free Will Baptist Church near Mount Olive. He said he, his wife and three sons moved to Albertson about six years ago to be closer to his wife's family.

Donna Gavette, a friend of Fussell and former teaching colleague, said Fussell would often do more than provide classroom instruction for her pupils. She said she gave clothes, lunch money and books to needy children.

"Celeste is the type of person who will do whatever she can to help out," Gavette said.

Robert Fussell said his wife had surgery for a brain tumor in May 2003 and has been dealing with pain and other complications ever since. "The pain never went away," he said.

Devoted friend gone

In a brief interview at her home last week, Celeste Fussell appeared dazed, her eyes bright and glassy. She beamed when she talked about her family and volunteer work with cancer awareness and treatment programs. She pulled her curly hair back to display scars from her surgery and described headaches that never go away. But she became more emotional when she mentioned Lee.

Fussell said she and Glenda Lee took painting classes together and talked while doing household chores. "She would come over and start folding clothes," she said.

"When I was sick with my brain tumor, she was out in my yard pulling weeds out of my flowers."

Robert Fussell said the two friends were nearly inseparable. "It got to the point that if you wanted to find where she [Lee] was you would call here," he said.

He declined to discuss Lee's death on the advice of his attorney.

The investigation

Duplin County Sheriff Blake Wallace said there was no evidence that Celeste Fussell obtained the drugs illegally or sold narcotics, though she is also charged with illegally delivering fentanyl and drug trafficking. Those charges stem from the amount of drugs involved in Lee's death -- more than 4 grams but less than 14 grams.

Investigators said the medication was delivered between July 15 and July 17, the day Lee died. A document prepared by medical examiner Hervy B. Kornegay said Lee was found unresponsive at her home by her family. Investigating officers and emergency medical personnel found nothing to suggest it was anything other than a natural death, the report said, but the cause was not clear.

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