A mother is speaking out after discovering two of her children died as a result of a fentanyl overdose. The overdose was accidental, and a year later, the mom still doesn’t understand how it happened. All she knows is that two of her children are dead, and there’s nothing she can do.
Now, she is speaking out about her kids’ deaths. She knows that fentanyl overdoses aren’t uncommon. So she wants other parents to know that their kids could always be next.
Kate Jones of Perryville, Maryland, spoke with People about the loss of her children. On the night of January 15, 2024, she went to bed after spending the night coloring with her 10-year-old son Gaige while her daughters, 14-year-old Skylar and 12-year-old Allyson, were in their room.
At some point in the night, Gaige went to sleep in his sisters’ room, which he sometimes did. The next day, the kids were off from school because of a snow day. When Jones left for work at 10 a.m., only Allyson was awake. She just assumed Skylar and Gaige were still sleeping.
She ended up having to leave work early. She’s a truck driver, and the freezing weather had caused her truck to malfunction. Before she came home, she received a text from Allyson saying that her siblings hadn’t woken up.
“I said, ‘Are they breathing?’” Jones said. She was close to home, so she told Allyson she’d be home soon. “I get to the house, I run up the steps. I opened the door and I looked in, and of course I knew — a 12-year-old little girl’s not going to know, but I knew,” the mom said.
Jones and her mother’s husband began administering CPR on both children. When emergency services arrived, Jones said the responders “kind of knew they weren’t going to be able to bring Skylar back,” turning their attention to Gaige. Eventually, both children were pronounced dead on the scene, the Maryland State Police said.
According to MSP, a search and seizure warrant was obtained and authorities left Jones’ home with drug paraphernalia and cellphones. Jones told the outlet that the paraphernalia was a “baggie” found next to her daughter. No one in the family knows how the baggie got into their home. “It was some kind of overdose.” Jones said.
“My son was 10 and my daughter was only 14,” Jones said. “Nobody expects to hear that your babies have fentanyl in their system.”
To this day, Kate Jones doesn’t know where her kids got the drugs. An MSP spokesperson told People that the investigation is ongoing.
A week before her children’s deaths, she claimed to have had a talk with Skylar about fentanyl. The teen had asked about the drug after a health class. Now, she wants to warn other parents that their kid could be next.
“It could be your kid any day. Your kid could be just an honor roll student in AP classes,” she said. “Your son could be just playing on monkey bars or skating or riding his bike with his friends the day before and then … you just never know.”
