SANTA ANA, Calif.—Dozens of photographs of once-smiling people who have recently died of fentanyl overdoses lined the walls of the shared courtyard of the Orange County District Attorney and sheriff department April 24, where officials and loved ones gathered for a Crime Victims Rights ceremony.
“I’ve spent a lot of my career all over the world whether it was Afghanistan in the army, working in South America as an administrator, or also dealing with drug issues as a federal prosecutor here in Orange County prosecuting drug cases, but nothing like the [drug] epidemic we have seen now,” Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) told the roughly 100 attendance via a pre-recorded video. “To what’s caused by, created by, and contributed to fentanyl.”
Shortly after, several parents in the audience took to the small stage, each holding photos of their children who had died from fentanyl poisoning.
“I call it fentanyl poisoning because my son was deceived by the person who sold him the [pill] he bought from them,” Perla Mendoza said while holding a picture of her deceased son, Elijah. “Not only was he deceived, but my son’s drug supplier also is linked to several other deaths here in Orange County, [and] I knew that I had to do something about it.”
Mendoza has since started a non-profit called Project Eli, to spread awareness of the fentanyl epidemic.
“Losing a child is the worst thing that we can imagine,” she said. “I know my son is gone and there is nothing I can do to will him back, but this is how I choose to honor my boy and I will continue to be a person that can provide a service and hopefully prevent other deaths from occurring.”
In Orange County alone, fentanyl deaths have increased over 1,000 percent in the last five years according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Another parent, Matt Capelouto whose daughter Alexandra died after ingesting fentanyl several years ago, also spoke to the crowd.
“My daughter Alex didn’t know she was being handed a pill that was a counterfeit made with a lethal dose of fentanyl in it,” Capelouto said. “She died a few seconds after taking that pill.”
Since her death, Capelouto and other parents who have lost children to fentanyl have been pushing for the passage in the California legislature of Senate Bill 44 known as “Alexandra’s Law” to address California’s growing crisis of fentanyl poisonings across the state.
The bill, which died in a California Senate committee hearing April 25, would have mandated that those who are convicted or charged with a fentanyl-related drug offense be read an admonishment that if they sell the drug to someone in the future which leads to their death they could be charged with potential homicide.
“I’ve stood before the California Senate Public Safety Committee pleading with them to pass Alexandra’s law, a common sense bill that will save lives but so far I haven’t seen anything that resembles a real desire by Senate committee members Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), Stephen Bradford (D-Gardena), Nancy Skinner (D-East Bay), or Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward),” Capelouto said before the April 25 decision on the bill.
Capelouto said the day of his daughter’s death made him and his family forever victims of crime.
“I didn’t know then that I would spend the next few years fighting to save other Californians ... from living the daily war caused by this deadly man-made drug and the people that sell it,” he said. “I’m tired of begging and pleading for the leaders in this state to do something about this.”
Officials said victims today are being “undermined by the court system.”
During the ceremony, an Orange County deputy with the sheriff’s department and the Brea Police Department were recognized for traumatic events in the line of duty that nearly took their lives, only to have their perpetrators released early on probation.
“What the hell is going on here!” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer yelled in conclusion of the ceremony.
“One of the judge’s responses to these officers,” Spitzer said, “was this not what you signed up for? Another’s was ‘I do not want to ruin the man’s life with prison!’”
In concluding the ceremony, speakers gathered for the release of white doves signifying the passage of loved ones followed by a powerful rendition of Amazing Grace performed with bagpipes by the sheriff’s department Pipes and Drums Band.
“Kids out here are dying,” Spitzer said with tears in his eyes. “We will not tolerate this in Orange County.”
