My son, Samuel Nelson, died from fentanyl poisoning on 4/21/2019, Easter Sunday and his beloved Grammy’s birthday. He did not knowingly take fentanyl and did not choose to die. He had a heroin addiction and that is what he believed he had taken. I found him on the bathroom floor of our home. His 13 year old brother had to witness, me his mother, performing life saving measures until paramedics arrived. The paramedics didn’t even know where their Narcan was located and when they finally found it, Sam was only given 2 doses. My home was never treated as a crime scene and nothing was ever investigated. The syringe in Sam’s pocket was never tested and it was thrown away by the coroner. The coroner requested Sam’s phone and wallet, which he had on his person, however the coroner returned these items to me via the funeral home 2 days later. Sam’s wallet still contained a powdered substance wrapped in a small piece of paper, which I found the evening of 4/23/2019 while looking for his SS card. I had to contact a drug task force agent to come and get the powdered substance from my possession. The officer told me that he was going to send substance to a lab which could take a few months. I had to repeatedly contact this officer for any information. The officer told me 6 months later that they never sent the substance to the lab and it was only field tested. My son had no heroin whatsoever in his system, it was pure fentanyl. I had information on where my son purchased the substance that he believed to be heroin, who he purchased it from, and who he was with that witnessed the purchase. Nothing was ever done with this information to prosecute the dealer or to set up a sting, which I requested. Also, I was told by the officer that Sam’s phone’s swipe pattern couldn’t be figured out to open it, so no information could be retrieved from that either. I am just utterly disgusted and irrevocably disappointed in the “justice system”. My son, Samuel, was more than an addict. Sam was an extremely intelligent individual (scored 31 on his ACT), who loved to read and garden. He was a beloved son, brother, and grandson. He is loved and missed by his family and friends everyday. I will never get to see him get married or have children of his own. His sister will get married next year and start her family and Sam won’t get to witness that or be an uncle to her children. Sam missed his little brother growing up to be taller than himself and ready to take on the world. Sam was robbed of his existence on this Earth, but his heart and soul still surround those he loved most.

Sam’s Mom(8/30/1995-4/21/2019)💜