‘Mallorie deserves justice’: Best friend reacts to apparent overdose death in Wilmington
Friends and family are mourning the loss of a young woman after an apparent overdose death in Wilmington last week.
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Friends and family are mourning the loss of a young woman after an apparent overdose death in Wilmington last week.
The body of 23-year-old Mallorie McCollum was found in the vehicle of 27-year-old Zakreigh Baker when he rear-ended a car stopped at the intersection of North Kerr Avenue and Martin Luther King Junior Parkway on Tuesday, September 20. Her death is being investigated as an overdose.
“She was not the type of person to do anything like this. I know 110% in my heart that this was something more led on her, pushed on her, put on her. This was not just Mallorie,” McCollum’s best friend Kaitlin LaForge said.
LaForge says she and McCollum have been friends since 2017. The two met while waiting tables at a restaurant on Lake Lure. From day one, LaForge says McCollum was always willing to stop and help, no matter how busy she was herself. More than just best friends, LaForge says they were more like sisters.
“It was just something that brought her so much joy, to do for other people. If she could do for them, she would go without herself,” she said.
A lot of love to give — for people and for animals. McCollum loved riding horses and LaForge says she was good at it, winning several titles at horseback riding competitions. McCollum had recently started a job at a veterinarian’s office.
“It was her passion, she loved it. The nastiest things, she would be so excited to call and tell me that she was a part of being able to help this animal,” LaForge said.
A selfless and giving heart, sometimes to a fault.
“She was the type of person that even if she knew that you were using her, she would still help you because she just thought that was what she was supposed to do. She was supposed to help those people,” LaForge said.
When police arrived on the scene of the incident, they say Baker claimed McCollum was his girlfriend and that he was taking her to the hospital but it was apparent she had been dead for a while.
“My friend deserved so much more and he didn’t give that to her,” LaForge said. “The nicest way that I could put it is I hope that he gets everything that he has coming for him.”
With some questions that remain unanswered, LaForge knows one thing is for certain.
“Sometimes in life, you don’t get lucky enough to have a friend like that. I was blessed to have years of friendship with her and to have somebody I could always count on,” she said.
Zakreigh Baker is charged with failing to report a death, driving while impaired, driving with a revoked license, habitual impaired driving, and two counts of probation violation. He is being held under a $50,000 bond.
