A mom’s pain never ends

Brenda Armstrong’s son Jordan Jackson is dead. He died in January 2023 after taking half of a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl. The pain must never end for her. She must relive the death vividly each time the case goes to the court or stories come out of someone else dying from fentanyl. 

The man that sold Jackson the drugs, Anthony Fuentes, was convicted of manslaughter in August 2024. It marked the first time in Wyoming a person was convicted of manslaughter for selling drugs that killed a person(s). 

Fuentes challenged the plea deal that gave him 15-20 years in prison. He argued that he was not represented adequately by his attorney. His motion was rejected in June by Park County District Judge Bill Simpson. 

Fuentes is now taking his case to the Wyoming Supreme Court. 

Armstrong started “A Voice for Jordan” to with a few goals in mind. Those included justice for Jordan and getting information out about fentanyl.  At the time, many people had heard of fentanyl but didn’t realize how it was being laced into/onto fake prescription pills, candy, marijuana and that people were dying from fentanyl poisoning all the time.   

 It is poisoning, not overdose. Poison because the person taking the meds, eating the candy or even smoking a joint didn’t know that it contained fentanyl. You can debate back and forth that in some cases the person is breaking the law by taking a med not subscribed to them or smoking pot. Yes, they were. At the same time, they didn’t know that it contained fentanyl, any more than a person eating a piece of candy would.
  Not sure that many of us would have the strength to start a movement to help others after we lost a child. To do something to help stop it happening to another family. A Voice For Jordan does that. 

It isn’t unusual for Armstrong to receive messages like, “Thank you so very much for all your facts, stories and love for Jordan. 

“I’m a fentanyl addict with children. I left for a party this weekend to get high and I thought about Jordan, I left the party sober and went home to my beautiful babies! You just might have saved my life” 

Even with messages like that, the pain of the loss is tangible — a mom’s pain never ends. As a community, we need to be aware that there is a fentanyl epidemic in the United States and in our own small communities. Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, primarily illegally manufactured fentanyl, have become the leading cause of death for individuals aged 18 to 45 in the U.S. 

If you need help or know someone who does call 1-800-662-HELP (4357). Be a voice for someone you know, yourself or for Jordan.