“Now I understand the pain”: Spokane mother grieves son who died from fentanyl overdose days after his birthday

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane mother who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose is using her grief to advocate for change.

Kitara Johnson-Jones and her son, Gabriel, celebrated his 24th birthday together on March 2.

She buried him on March 8.

Gabriel died of a fentanyl overdose, just weeks after being released from an addiction treatment program. He struggled with addiction since he was 21.

Kitara said he was released too soon.

“I don’t think that organizations should be able to just put a person out of the program without having a specific plan of action for their success when they leave,” she said.

Fentanyl is an ongoing problem nationwide, and especially felt in Spokane. Just last year, 270 people died of fentanyl overdoses in Spokane County, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner.

Now, Kitara is working to help others from having to go through the same pain and loss she is experiencing.

She is advocating for policy changes that make it easier for law enforcement to hold drug dealers accountable.

“Now I understand the pain of every mother and every father, even family, on losing one of their loved ones to something that they cannot control,” Jones said.

Kitara is also calling on all of us as a community to do better. She said fighting this crisis will take a village. She encourages all of us to have more compassion and to offer help to our neighbors in need.