USA First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff

Dear First Lady Marty Kemp,
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I know you are a mother of three girls
and that you will be able to imagine the unfathomable pain I am in. I am a newly
appointed ambassador for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Walls. My 23-year-old
daughter, Shannon (and second adopted child from birth), was taken from me on
June 29, 2021, to methamphetamine laced with fentanyl.
Shannon Ruth DeHart was so loved by her father, brother and I and many others. If I
start describing her (and all she went through) I could not finish this letter. However, I
will tell you that she had a diagnosis of BPD and her dad, and I sought all kinds of
treatment for her, but sadly, our healthcare system failed in that realm. She resorted
to drugs to cope. I warned her against the dangers of drugs and overdosing on
drugs, but I never knew about illicit fentanyl. Now, I know all too well. Her death
certificate revealed fentanyl, methamphetamine and amphetamine were the drugs in
her system and the cause of her death stated, “accident”.
Shannon did not want to die or leave her toddler behind. She was poisoned by
fentanyl, but she thought that the methamphetamine was not laced with fentanyl.
The autopsy toxicity report showed she had 15ng of fentanyl in her system. The
coroner informed me when I asked what amount was considered lethal, and I was
told that there is no “safe” amount of illicit fentanyl.
Now, not only am I still grieving and mourning the daughter that was taken from me,
but I am singly raising her five-year-old child, in my 60s. My heart aches every day
for her and breaks for the little boy who will not know his mother, and the countless
other people dying from fentanyl. I don’t want my daughter’s death to be in vain. I
want to put her name and face out there and let her voice be heard from her grave
and expose illicit fentanyl for what it is, namely a poison and weapon of mass
destruction.
Our government is supposed to protect us, so please help place these precious
children’s photos in a significant building in our Capitol. Thank you for listening to us.
With a broken heart,
Kim DeHart
Woodstock, Georgia
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