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

Dear First Lady Sharon Landry,
I am an ambassador for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall. I have lost three children to opioids.
This letter is about my son, Shawn David Rivas, who was poisoned by 120 milligrams of pure
fentanyl.
On July 22, 2021, my son, Shawn David, went missing, only three weeks after my daughter,
Danielle, died from heroin laced with fentanyl. Deep down in my spirit, I immediately knew
Shawn was dead. God had told me. Yet, I didn’t know where Shawn was. It seemed
incomprehensible that I was staring face to face with the death of yet another of my children. 3-
1/2 weeks later, Shawn’s body was returned to the same house he disappeared from. The
autopsy report revealed that Shawn died from 120 milligrams of pure fentanyl.
Shawn David loved God with all his heart. His dream was to be a pastor one day. Shawn was
handsome, gregarious, and outgoing. He loved people and never met a stranger. He was
deeply caring and loving. Shawn was the father of two children, Makayla and Matthew, who will
now grow up without their father. Irreplaceable and immeasurably loved, Shawn David and my
other two children were tragically ripped away from me and this planet by drugs.
Every other pain I had experienced up until that point pales in comparison to the death of my
children. Child death is in a category of pain all its own, and only those who have visited its hell
firsthand understand; it is indeed a whiff of pure hell here on earth. Their deaths leave our lives
wrecked, our hearts, hopes and dreams shattered. I never imagined surviving the death of
three of my children. And though each death sought to destroy me, by God’s grace, I survived
and now live to share my story with those also walking through the valley of grief in hopes of
providing comfort, support, and encouragement in your faith.
We need your help! Please assist us in finding a permanent location for a Drug Epidemic
Memorial Wall within our Capitol, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, or in another Louisiana State
building. We want photos of our loved ones permanently displayed. Our children’s lives
mattered. Their deaths matter. They deserve to be treated like victims, for each of them was a
victim of the Pharmaceutical Industry. Those murdered by the evil poisoning that is fentanyl are
murder victims at the hands of drug dealers, the cartel, and China and Mexico.
A group of Louisiana parents would like to meet with you and work together to prevent this hell
on earth that is child death from drugs from happening to other families. We need your help
and pray that you will consider our request.
God bless you,
Pamela Riviere-Rivas,
Mother of Shawn David Rivas, forever 29.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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