Indy mother shares her story to help other as overdose epidemic continues

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis mother is speaking out just days before she will lay her daughter to rest after she died from an overdose.

She tells WRTV's Amber Grigley, she regrets not knowing enough to help her daughter. This mom hopes her story will help other families before it's too late.

"I'm thinking about her son, who really doesn't understand that his mommy is gone. Her 8-month-old baby, they'll never know her," Linda White said.

It was October 20 when White received the devastating news about her daughter, Jasmine Brown.

"They were like, well, ma'am, I'm so sorry that I have to tell you this, but we found Jasmine in a hotel room, and she passed away," White said.

White said her heart shattered after she was told her daughter had overdosed.

"I just kept saying, 'Oh, Jasmine. If you had just let us know'," White said.

White said her daughter was working on getting clean for her children.

"She had agreed to do that. Whatever it was, they wanted her to do in order to get her children back. In her heart, she probably felt like that could happen, but in reality, you slip. Oh, I'm going to do this one last time," said White.

"This would be, unfortunately, my third funeral of someone who overdosed within the last two years," Pastor Kenneth Sullivan Jr. of New Direction Church said.

Jasmine attended Pastor Sullivan Jr's church. He said he did not know that Jasmine was battling substance abuse, but this tragedy sheds light on a bigger issue in the community.

"New drugs have flooded the market, and it's flooding the streets. And so, we're seeing it impact young people in devastating ways," Sullivan Jr. said.

Sullivan Jr. said this issue hits home.

"I was involved with drugs when I was a teenager, and I accepted Christ while in rehab," Sullivan Jr. said.

After hearing Jasmine's story, he's challenging the community to do more to stop this crisis.

"Caution parents not to just take their children word for it. Really dig and see what's going on. Check their friends list, see who they are with, and even your young adult children. I would also caution our children not to experiment with these pills," said Sullivan Jr.

"Do you know what things could be in there? No one cares about you but you," said White.

Resources

If you or someone you know is dealing with a substance use-related emergency, call 911.

For more information on a recovery organization near you, you can visit the Indiana Recovery Network website.

You can call 211 for help 24/7 in Indiana.

You can call the Indiana Addiction Hotline at 1-800-622-HELP (4357).

To find where you can get Naloxone near you, click here.

To learn more about NaloxBoxes, click here. You can use this map to find one near you.

To view more resources from NextLevel Recovery Indiana, click here to visit its website.