Florida Letters for First Lady Casey DeSantis

Dear First Lady Casey DeSantis,
I have two daughters, Rachel Amber my 1st born and Kristin Nicole, my 2nd born. Both
were born in Richmond, Va. We moved to Orlando, Florida in 1988. Both girls went to
elementary and middle school in Dr Phillips. Rachel went to Dr Phillips High School.
Kristin, not wanting to keep being Rachel’s little sister, got herself into the IB Magnet at
Cypress Creek High. Kristin went onto the University of Miami for two years and then
back here to Orlando to graduate from the University of Central Florida Rosen College.
She worked for Universal Studios for 16 years and now works for Finserva, a Financial
Tech company in London.
Rachel did very well through high school until her Senior year. Her group started drinking
vodka from water bottles, skipping classes, etc. She almost didn’t graduate. But we got
her through summer school, and she did it. A very happy time in her life.
Rachel was our adventuresome, hippie butterfly. She went to UCF, met the wrong people
and started trying stuff she shouldn’t have. Around this time was her first hit up with heroin
then began with everything else. She coasted for a while. She had two abusive
boyfriends. We “Baker Acted” her, and she hated us for it. She began to recognize her
problem and admitted herself to rehab several times and helped many others into rehab.
Over the next 13 years she slowly digressed downward and OD’d several times. She
went from living with me for a while, to a nice apartment, to an ok condo, to a room in a
house on South Orange Blossom Trail, to an apartment on Americana Blvd and finally into
the woods behind the Publix at Americana Blvd and John Young Parkway. She lived with
her boyfriend, a user, and her rescued dog that she loved. I even got her a tent to help her
out.
I of course enabled her along the way and helped as I could. I gave her money and
became a great customer of Western Union and Amscot. She spent her last nine months
in those woods, progressively getting worse. I tried to get her out, but she wouldn’t leave
her boyfriend or the dog. I offered to take the dog to Pet Alliance. She liked her
Americana community there because it had everything she needed; her user friends, a
Burger King to charge her phone, places to panhandle, a 7-11 to buy cheap beer, and of
course her network of dealers.
On February 7, 2019, she had made plans and agreed to meet a woman that afternoon, to
take her away and help her get a fresh start. That morning around 9:30 am, she waited on
the corner for her dealer to give her that last big hit. Something addicts do before they go
for help, knowing that will be their last high. It was her last hit. It was loaded with fentanyl.
12 milligrams. As we know it only takes about 2 milligrams. Rachel didn’t have a chance.
It was murder.