The Carrollton case of deadly fentanyl dealt to school children has other North Texas fentanyl victim families joining forces to fight.
Three Carrollton students died and six more were hospitalized from fentanyl overdoses in recent months, officials said.
Fort Worth resident Adolph Alvarez has the name of his deceased daughter tattooed on his arm as a constant reminder. Abigil Alvarez died in May 2022 as a victim of fentanyl.
“It breaks my heart, but it also reminds me. You can’t lay down another day. You’ve got to do something today, he said.
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Thursday night, Alvarez went to a Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District meeting to show support for families grieving there over Fentanyl.
Authorities said the students took pills they thought were Percocet or OxyContin but turned out to be laced with fentanyl.
“We’re in a war here people, it’s a drug war. It’s taking our children. I’m asking you all to get involved in awareness,” Alvarez said at the meeting.
Magaly Mejia Cano and Luis Navarrete of Carrollton are accused of providing pills laced with fentanyl to teenage dealers to then sold the pills to school kids.
Cano was in federal court Friday where she waived her right to a detention hearing, so she will remain in custody, for now, pending trial. Navarrete already waived that right and also remains in custody.
Alvarez said his daughter received a lethal dose from another dealer in May 2022 in Hurst. He said the man who gave her the pills was arrested and pleaded guilty.
He could receive a sentence of decades behind bars, but Alvarez said that is a small penalty compared to his daughter’s life.
The message of prevention and eliminating drug demand is part of the mission for relatives of victims.
“Our kids are gone. We’re trying to save somebody else’s child,” Alvarez said.
Among other things, relatives plan a rally on Saturday, May 6 at 2 p.m. on the Tarrant County Courthouse steps in Fort Worth.
“We need cooperation. We need people to be on the same page as us. So, we need city councils and police officers and their community to be willing to allow us to have these events and welcome us with open arms, and help us to make these things happen,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said waging the crusade against fentanyl helps him overcome grief and get through the day.
He hopes it reduces the future faces of fentanyl poisoning.
