North Texas police and sheriff’s departments are marking National Fentanyl Awareness Day by holding town hall forums on the dangers of the synthetic drug.
Jeri Horton of Plano will be speaking at a town hall Tuesday night hosted by the Wylie Police Department from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Collin College Conference Center.
Horton spoke with NBC 5 about her story of loss and an upcoming public demonstration planned in Plano on Mother’s Day called Mothers in Mourning.
“Honestly, Mother’s Day will never be the same because she’s not here,” said Horton through tears.
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She says her 23-year-old daughter Jessie had been struggling with mental health and addiction.
The last time Horton saw her daughter was in September 2021 at the movie theater where they watched a horror movie together, their favorite genre.
About a week later, Horton says Jessie was celebrating someone’s birthday and took part of a pill, thinking it was oxycontin.
“She didn’t want to die. She didn’t choose to die. She didn’t deserve to die,” said Horton. “She made a choice. It cost her her life, but that doesn’t define who she was. She was a beautiful young girl. She had a lot of potential.”
One of the more difficult moments was not being able to see her daughter’s body.
Jessie was not reported dead for three days, Horton was told it was best she not see her daughter given the amount of time that had passed.
No one was arrested in the case, she said.
On Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14, Horton says she will join the national Mothers in Mourning movement where women who’ve lost children to fentanyl poisoning will gather at busy intersections across the country calling attention to the epidemic.
“The goal is to raise awareness,” she said. “There are a lot of parents out there that have the mentality of: ‘Not me. This is not going to be me. This is not going to be my child’ and unfortunately, they’re sadly mistaken.”
At Dallas City Hall, city and county leaders gathered Tuesday afternoon proclaiming Fentanyl Awareness Day in Dallas.
Council members invited the parents of a young man who died of fentanyl poisoning.
“My son did not need to die, and I don’t want any others to die,” said Dallas Doctor Daragh Heitzman.
It’s been nearly 18 months since he found his son Martin dead in his bedroom.
“I’ve worked in emergency rooms, we see every type of drug, but you don’t see your child die from this. It’s totally unexpected,” he said. “My son did not want to die. This was inadvertent and that’s what’s happening to most of these kids.”
A teenager who survived a fentanyl overdose also spoke during Tuesday’s press conference.
Collin, NBC 5 will only use his first name given his age, says he’s astounded that he could easily purchase fentanyl on his cell phone within ten minutes but not be able to go to the store and buy a pack of cigarettes.
“How is something 50 times stronger than morphine available to so many kids across North Texas,” he asked.
Last year, 260 people died of fentanyl poisoning in Dallas County alone, according to the city’s Opioid Response Strike Force.
Dallas Fire-Rescue has responded to more than 100 calls for overdoses.
There’s also been a 125% increase in the number of people DFR has had to administer Narcan to since 2020, according to the department.
The strike force announced additional resources are being added in their fight against fentanyl.
“Overdose mapping can help identify in overdoses allowing a more rapid response with necessary resources,” said Dallas Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot.
DPD announced doses of the potentially live-saving treatment Narcan will be given to more officers including those on patrol and on SWAT.
The strike force has also partnered with the Recovery Resource Council to help respond to overdose calls, offering Narcan and/or resources to seek help.
