Texas Moms Unite to Combat the Fentanyl Epidemic After Losing Their Children

Jena Ehlinger will never forget the text that forever changed her life. It was May 6, 2021, and she was at a friend’s wedding in Mexico when her phone buzzed with a terse, two-word message from her eldest son, Sam: “Call me.” Ehlinger knew it must be serious. Since her husband, Ross, had died of a heart attack eight years prior, Ehlinger and her children — Sam, Jake, and Morgen — agreed that they would never send each other cryptic texts that might induce panic. When she called Sam back, the news was worse than she could have possibly feared. Jake was dead.

Sam Ehlinger (#11) and Jake Ehlinger (#48)

Jake’s roommates had found him in their house in Austin, Texas. Jena’s world was shattered. She walked outside, away from the wedding reception luncheon, laid down on the cold concrete by a swimming pool, and screamed until her voice gave out. When she got home and was finally alone with Sam and Morgen, they huddled in Jake’s room and held each other with tears streaming from their eyes. Jena said “what in the world happened to Jake? Do you think it was his heart?” Sam said, “mom, I have no idea, but it could be fentanyl poisoning.” “What the heck is fentanyl?!” Jena recalls saying. Unfortunately, that’s a question being asked by hundreds of parents all over the world. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is being pressed into fake pills or cut into other narcotics and street drugs by dealers looking to increase widespread addiction.

Ehlinger family: Ross, Jena, Morgen, Jake and Sam

Jena and Jake Ehlinger

A police toxicology report found that he died from a sedative tablet that was laced with fentanyl that they believe he ordered online. Jena found parents everywhere were left helpless and confused in the wake of losing a child to this new and unknown epidemic. But she also found strength in her faith. She was called to give Jake’s death and her pain purpose by trying to save other young adults and their families from suffering the same fate. “Once I found out that this was happening to a lot of young adults, I began to wonder: How are these dealers and traffickers getting away with this?” says Jena. “And how come no one is talking about this? Everyone is acting like it’s not happening. That motivated me to try to do something to save our children and bring attention to this issue.”

A Rising Epidemic

The fake pills containing fentanyl are coming out of Mexican cartels targeted at teenagers and young adults. They are made to look like common ADHD, anti-anxiety, pain medicines, and other pharmaceuticals that are commonly prescribed to teenagers and young adults. Drug traffickers also use social media to advertise these drugs online, even using emoji codes to mask transactions. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports that fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin, causing confusion, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, cold and clammy skin, coma, and respiratory failure. DEA lab testing showed that six of every 10 fake pills contained a lethal dose of fentanyl. And it only takes 2 milligrams of fentanyl to kill, an amount so small it could fit on the tip of a pencil.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports that fentanyl is

50x

more potent than heroin, causing:

Everyone is acting like it’s not happening. That motivated me to try to do something to save our children and bring attention to this issue.

Jena Ehlinger

Jake Ehlinger was 20 years old, an outstanding student majoring in finance at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business in Austin who had walked on to the Longhorns football team as a linebacker where his brother Sam was playing quarterback. He had secured a competitive business internship at Dell. He took care of his body and his mind; he was an emotional rock for his family after his father’s death. A stranger to no one and a friend to everyone, as witnessed by his memorial service with 2800 people. One fake pill brought all of that to an end. If it could happen to Jake, Jena felt, it could happen to anyone. Through her newfound activism, she got in touch with families from all backgrounds who were going through the same thing she went through. That’s how she met Stefanie Turner.

In January 2021, Stefanie’s 19-year-old son, Tucker Charles Roe, was exposed to illicit pills marketed and sold through social media. Like Jena, Stefanie had never heard of fentanyl, and she was also unaware that children were selling drugs online. And despite her close relationship with Tucker, Stefanie also had no idea that he had developed an opioid dependence — until it was too late. After helping him through months of sobriety, Tucker had a moment of weakness and took the one pill that ended his life. "Unfortunately, parents who've lost children to fentanyl are part of a much larger group than most realize," Stefanie says. “Many parents carry the guilt, feeling like they failed their children. But it's the system that's failing us. By sharing our stories, we're empowering others and ultimately saving lives."

Stefanie Turner and Tucker Roe

They say, parents, talk to your kids about drugs. Well, I was the mom who talked to my kid. But often, kids will be kids. They’ll experiment, just as generations before them did. The difference is that experimenting in today’s drug landscape could be the last decision they ever make.

Stefanie Turner

This life-altering tragedy inspired Stefanie to create Texas Against Fentanyl (TXAF), a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the potent and potentially deadly drug, providing essential resources and supporting families grieving the loss of loved ones. Through advocating for impactful legislation with a focus on schools and adolescents, her organization championed the passage of House Bill 3908 (Tucker’s Law) mandating public school fentanyl education for grades 6 through 12, Senate Bill 3144 designating October as Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month, and Senate Bill 629 requiring schools to adopt policies on opioid antagonist maintenance, administration, and disposal. After Tucker’s death, Stefanie was also determined to combat the stigma that silenced grieving families. She believed Tucker should not be defined by fentanyl, but rather his death should highlight the deadly danger of this drug, and the only way to combat this was through education. Recognizing the enormity of this crisis, Stefanie launched "The Tucker Project", a fentanyl education curriculum extending beyond the state of Texas to educate 6th - 12th grade students on the dangers of fentanyl and allow them to make informed decisions. “We must move from a general awareness of fentanyl and its dangers to a deep understanding,” Stefanie asserts. “The only way to achieve this is through education. Human lives are on the line, many of them young lives, never given the chance to grow into adulthood."

Tucker with his sisters: Asra, Aven, and Ani

Tucker with his family: Tucker, Stefanie, Asra, Aven, Lawrence, Ani

Tucker with his dog Tyson

DEA lab testing showed that 6 of every 10 fake pills contained a lethal dose of fentanyl

It only takes 2 milligrams of fentanyl to kill, an amount so small it could fit on the tip of a pencil.

Jake’s Law

Jena is doing more than just telling her story — she’s changing the law. As any parent would, Jena wanted to find the dealer or trafficker responsible for Jake’s death. But she quickly discovered that those deaths were deemed “accidental overdoses” on death certificates. This designation resulted in law enforcement prematurely closing their investigations into fentanyl cases and prevented effective prosecution of traffickers when one pill kills. Jena reached out to two friends who happened to be attorneys, Caren and Ed Burbach, to see if there was anything they could do. The three were soon meeting with Texas state legislators and even testifying at House and Senate committee hearings. In addition to advocating to change the death certificate classification to “poisoning”, they addressed a vacuum in the law when one pill kills. Though it is the leading cause of death for ages 18 to 45, there was no state law that addressed one laced pill - as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl - killing someone. They drafted language for a murder charge for death resulting from even one fentanyl-laced pill. Though they faced strong opposition, including from two well-funded lobby groups, eventually their proposals passed both houses and was signed into law by the governor.

Benches in honor of Ross and Jake on the Lady Bird Lake Trail

Now, a medical examiner can classify a fentanyl overdose as “fentanyl poisoning” on the death certificate. This keeps investigations of those cases open while they continue to look for the dealers who sold the pills, which leads to prosecutions. And, importantly, murder charges can now be brought when one pill kills. “It has been effective. In the first eight months after it was signed into law, there were around 25 state murder charges in connection with deaths from one pill. Before, there were none.,” says Caren Burbach. “Jena is putting her pain to valuable use for other families.” But, of course, Jena is far from done working. In fact, she wants to get a national law passed similar to the one in Texas. And she is always making herself available to parents and families in pain, whether it’s speaking to a group or just taking a quick phone call. “I try to be there for anybody that I hear about,” says Jena. “I save their contacts with a note ‘fentanyl’ to remind me who they are. It’s sad how many of those numbers come up on my phone. But I try to be a supporter, an encourager, and to give them hope. It’s hard to find hope when you have this death. But you will make it. You will be okay. And you will find ways to honor this precious child who did not ask to be poisoned to death.”