(l-r) While weeping Chris Lopez whispers, "I love you" as he kisses his brother Juan Rodriguez who is brain-dead after a fentanyl overdose at CPMC hospital in San Francisco, California January 25, 2024. Juan, who was homeless and addicted to drugs, died two weeks later and his son Josiah is still on the streets currently using fentanyl.
The Medical Examiner rolls the body of a man who overdosed outside of an apartment building on Natoma and 8th Streets in San Francisco, California on Tuesday, Dec. 19th, 2023. While the fentanyl epidemic directly affects those struggling with addiction, it also puts a strain on the infrastructure of the city and the workers who bear witness to it.
At a memorial service marking the one-year anniversary of Steven Gainer's death from fentanyl, his sister Arnell Justin (center) speaks alongside Steven's 7-year-old son Miles Gainer, Steven's brother LaRon Gainer (left) and their mother Desiree Varela (right), October 6, 2024. Steven left behind his wife and four children including a child born shortly after his death.
At a memorial service marking the one-year anniversary of Steven Gainer's death from fentanyl, balloons are released, October 6, 2024. Steven left behind his wife and four children including a child born shortly after his death.
Faye Mitchell is comforted by her mother Sandie Rossi (right) after spreading the ashes of her 24-year-old son Geno Sargent who died of a fentanyl overdose in a San Francisco rehab facility, in Waimea, HI on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Faye felt an unfamiliar sense of hope in late 2023 that her son, Geno, would finally get the treatment he needed.“It seemed like he was getting the hang of it,” she said. Yet four months after he entered the rehab program, staff members found Sargent unresponsive in his bed. They had failed their state mandated regulations to check on him hourly to see that he was alive.
Nikki Mészáros, 15, touches the head of her deceased best friend Jazmin, 15-years-old, who died of a fentanyl overdose, during her funeral service at the Diablo Valley Funeral Home in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Nikki and Jazmin bonded because they were both Hungarian immigrants who had experienced sexual trauma. Jazmin's childhood sexual trauma triggered mental health problems and drug use which ultimately led to her death.
Márta Bárány (right) and stepfather Sandor Bárány (left) an urn with the remains of their 15-year-old daughter Jazmin Pellegrini at the Diablo Funeral Home in Concord, Calif., on June 12, 2024. Jazmin's death marked the end of a two-year descent into severe mental illness and drug use triggered by childhood sexual trauma. Even as she struggled her mother Marta said she would see glimmers of the happy child Jázmin had once been — a girl who loved animals, painting, basketball and riding skateboards.
Whitney Eads pours the ashes of her son Nolan, who at age 35, died of a fentanyl overdose on New Years Day of 2024 and was found on the steps of San Francisco's main library in California on Friday November 16, 2024. “My son begged to go to recovery and treatment while he was incarcerated,” she said, “and he did not receive that. We must realize that addiction is a symptom of an underlying problem with someone and we need to have better supports for those services.”
A memorial is seen for Jazmin Barany who at 15-years-old was found dead of a fentanyl overdose in San Francisco, Calif., on September 7, 2024. Her five siblings, devastated by the loss of their beloved sister, often find comfort in sleeping in her bed, using her pillows, almost every night. Jazmin's death marked the end of a two-year descent into severe mental illness and drug use triggered by childhood sexual trauma. Even as she struggled her mother Marta said she would see glimmers of the happy child Jázmin had once been — a girl who loved animals, painting, basketball and riding skateboards.
Reverend Joe C. Williams says a final prayer over the remains of the unclaimed dead, a majority of whom died from fentanyl and other drug overdoses, before releasing the ashes into the ocean near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California on June 30, 2024.
Bende Bárány, 6, runs along the beach next to candles that say “I love you” as he and his family celebrate the birthday of his deceased sister Jazmin who was found dead of a fentanyl overdose in Monterey, Calif., on July 21, 2024.