‘Fentanyl is Forever' Grieving mothers to hold community forum Saturday in Plano

Parents, especially those with middle and high-school-aged children, are encouraged to attend an event on the dangers of fentanyl.

Police, medical and mental health experts will join two mothers on a mission to prevent unsuspecting Texans from dying because of the deadly synthetic drug.

Teena Johnson and Jeri Horton know all too well that fentanyl is forever.

Both mothers spoke with NBC 5 on Friday, ahead of their event on Saturday, where they hope to reach even one person in time.

Both have lavender ‘Fentanyl is Forever’ T-shirts with a small heart that is beating, then stops.

“It started out with just a heartbeat and the ending of the heartbeat,” said Horton about the design. “I felt like there was something on the other end of that before the heartbeat stopped.”

“It was a beating heart,” added a tearful Teena Johnson. The symbolic beating hearts of their children.

These mothers organized a community forum called ‘Fentanyl is Forever’ taking place Saturday, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chase Oaks Church Legacy Campus in Plano.

“People die from it and that’s forever, but the part that people don’t always think about is the forever that is for everyone else,” said Horton.

"Everyone in that child’s life is affected,” added Johnson.

The event aims to raise awareness of the dangers of the synthetic opioid and the connection between mental health and substance use.

Mental health experts will join Plano police for a panel discussion on the topic.

Plano Fire Rescue will also be on hand for CPR and Narcan training and demonstrations.

Johnson and Horton, who lost a child to fentanyl poisoning in 2021, have turned their loss into a mission to stamp out the crisis.

Johnson says she had not heard about fentanyl before her son's death.

She has since learned a lot and has bonded with parents like Horton who've also lost children to the drug.

It is a "club" they do not wish on anyone.

Their journey through grief is at times very different. Johnson is no longer working while Horton continues to work.

“It’s like a yoyo,” said Johnson. “Some days are just you feel like you’re on top of the world, that you can deal, you can cope, and then are some days I need to crawl back into bed I just need to cry, and I can’t deal with it.”

“For me honestly, I think I’m still in denial,” said Horton. “I don’t think I’ve accepted the fact that she’s really gone.”

Horton’s daughter, Jessie Williams, 23, died in Carrollton.  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 learned of her daughter’s death.

Johnson’s son Cullen Logan, 38, died at his home in Austin on April 27, 2021.

His mother says Logan had been struggling with prescription drug addiction since he was in college when he was prescribed Ambien to help him sleep.

In both cases, Williams and Logan took what they thought was a legitimate prescription pill but in reality, were counterfeit pills containing a lethal dose of the synthetic opioid.

“Awareness and knowledge is the key to stopping the bleed,” said Johnson.

“The focus of the event is not just on fentanyl, it’s also on mental health and substance use connection and that piece is very important piece to me because my daughter did have mental health problems and she also had a substance use issue.”

Plano police officer Chris Bianez will be the panel’s moderator.

Members of the DEA and the Collin County Sheriff’s Office will be on hand to help answer questions.

“This is something that law enforcement cannot do by themselves, there’s only so much enforcement we can do we need to get parents and schools and community speaking often and early with youth,” he said.

Bianez and both mothers urge parents to attend with their children, whatever their age, believing it could help start delicate conversations that could save their lives.

“Even elementary students need to know that we’re not taking medicine unless it’s from someone they’re allowed to take it from,” stressed Bianez.

While fentanyl has claimed the lives of babies to elderly people, it is the leading killer of 18–45-year-olds in the U.S., according to the CDC.

In Texas, related deaths increased over 600% from 2019 to 2023, blamed for 7,000 deaths in these four years, according to the governor’s office.

Johnson and Horton have participated in several community forums, sharing their stories in hopes of preventing more tragedies.

But when she considers the turnout compared to the widespread impact of fentanyl, Horton says “it’s very disappointing.”

“It’s sad because people think that it’s not going to happen to them,” she said. “They’re going to be sadly mistaken when one day it’s them.”

They’ve both encountered parents who do not believe it can happen to their kids.

“I had a man tell me two weeks ago at an event: ‘Well, I raised my kids right,’ like it was my fault, and I had to educate him,” said Johnson.

Fentanyl is Forever

Saturday, October 5

10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Chase Oaks Church in Plano

Free, Everyone is invited