Justin, my son, my friend.

I was with my daughters when I received the phone call, my son had died. I screamed, as did Justin’s sisters. I drove to the hospital. I saw him, laying there. There was an almost immediate bubble that surrounded me. There was no way this was happening, yet I wasn't totally surprised.

It was becoming a trend, Justin’s heroin use. Heroin had a hold on him and we had been trying to get him clean since he had survived overdose just months before. He had been doing so well.

Justin was going to college, had a job, and had a girlfriend. This was a boy's night out. They shared a retinal patch. The other 2 boys survived.

I believe God has a reason for what happens. I have faith. Justin lived up to his name. Justin means just. Kane means beautiful or little battle.

The 23 year old who sold him this patch has been charged with 2nd degree murder in the death of my son. This won’t make my son come back or make me miss him any less, but through this it has opened the eyes to a community in trouble and taken a drug dealer off the streets and hopefully saved a life of someone else’s child.