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

Dear First Lady Sarah Stitt,
I am writing you this letter on behalf of my son, Joshua Compton-Lewis, and all the other people in
this state, and every state, who have been murdered by the deadly drug fentanyl, and now
xylazine.
Joshua was born on March 20, 1996, on the first day of spring. He was a happy little boy and my
only child. I loved him the moment I laid eyes on him.
Joshua loved having friends, the more the better. He also always had a little girlfriend or some girl
he liked. He had the most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen. He had a very infectious laugh, and
he made friends easily.
Josh was very smart and could make a good grade on any test, but he wasn’t much for
homework. He played sports of all kinds from the age four through 12. He decided skateboarding
was his thing, and he and his friends skateboarded almost every day. He loved clothes and shoes
and loved looking good.
In 8th grade I found out he had smoked marijuana. He told me he was having very bad anxiety.
We made the rounds of psychiatrists to no avail. The meds he was given never seemed to work.
He was never given an anti-anxiety pill because, according to the doctor, they are too addictive. I
thought weed was low on the risk of drugs, in general, so I was glad it wasn’t any worse. He got
caught with it, and once he was in the court system, things only got worse.
Unfortunately, Josh felt defeated by his court charges and began experimenting with a few other
drugs. He never had a real problem until he got talked into heroin by someone, he’d been friends
with since grade school. He was soon addicted. I only found out because his girlfriend told me.
The day I found out, I told him I was sending him to rehab.
He was in and out of rehab about six times. The last time he came home from rehab he went to a
party with three close friends. He was given heroin laced with fentanyl. The three guys just
watched him die. I didn’t find out until the next day, August 22, 2018. He had been gone for hours.
He was just 22 years old.
I was completely devastated, and still am. I have no family left. My son will never get married. He
will never have children, which he loved. He will never have a career or any adult life.
Please help us by helping other families never go through this horrible pain. We are asking for
your support and recognition of our loved ones. Consider memorializing all of those lost to the
drug epidemic in Oklahoma, on a Memorial Wall.
Thank you for your time, Mrs. Stitt.
Sincerely,
Karen Compton – Joshua’s mom; forever 22
Norman, Oklahoma
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