A young New Jersey mother died earlier this month after she and four friends apparently ingested cocaine they didn't realize was laced with fentanyl. Michelle Kerry Edoo, 29, overdosed on the fentanyl-laced cocaine at the Shops at Riverside Mall in Hackensack on March 15. She and four coworkers were found unconscious in the mall’s parking garage. Police did not identify the surviving women.
Good Samaritans found the women, according to the New York Post. Before first responders arrived, they began life-saving measures and administered Narcan, a drug with overdose-reversing capabilities. Four victims were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, and one remained at the scene after refusing treatment. Edoo died three days later.
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The Bergen County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office held a press conference last week.
Jason Love, chief detective for the Bergen County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, addressed the media during a conference last week regarding Edoo’s death. He explained that the investigation is ongoing and can take time, but he wanted the public to be aware that fentanyl is in their community and it is deadly.
“In 2022, we have seized over 32 kilos of fentanyl. Just this week alone, we seized two kilos of fentanyl. Other than being in its raw form, as I just discussed, we have seized fentanyl thousands of laced fentanyl pills we seized," he said.
The danger is real and imminent.
Love explained that in New Jersey in 2023, all heroin sent to the lab contained 98% fentanyl. He warned during the news conference that it is not Russian roulette: “If you take drugs or medication not prescribed from a doctor, it will contain fentanyl.”
He emphasized that is true for those in active addiction, recreational drug users, and those who purchase black-market drugs for financial reasons or pain management. No one is safe, and the outcomes can be deadly.
Police made two arrests in Edoo’s case.
The Post reported that police arrested two men from Paterson, New Jersey, Friday in connection with the case. Prosecutors charged 48-year-old Garfield Jones with third-degree possession with the intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance and third-degree possession of a controlled substance.
Robert McCrae, 52, was charged with third-degree possession with the intent to distribute less than a half-ounce of heroin and fourth-degree possession with the intent to distribute drug paraphernalia.
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Edoo worked at the mall and was a student.
Edoo’s family organized a GoFundMe account to help support her 9-year-old daughter, Ava. The fundraiser page explains that Edoo worked at the Cheesecake Factory full time, was a nursing student, and had passed her exam within the last two weeks. She was a doting mother and friend with a warm personality.
“She was always smiling, laughing, and cracking jokes. She always supported and pushed the people she loved and cared for toward their dreams," the page reads. "She spoke with genuine love and compassion for anyone she spoke with; and was always willing to help with a loving hand or a listening ear.”
Fentanyl overdoses are steadily rising.
Synthetic opioids are deadly, and fentanyl deaths are climbing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, increased by more than 56% from 2019 to 2020. The number of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids in 2020 was more than 18 times the number in 2013, with more than 56,000 people dying from overdoses involving synthetic opioids in 2020.
To combat overdose deaths, the CDC suggests increasing the distribution of naloxone and raising drug prevention education and awareness.
