WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Illicit fentanyl is a deadly drug.
According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, there was a 22% increase in Fentanyl deaths in North Carolina in 2021.
Families of 19 of those lives taken too soon were brave enough to put their loved one's faces on display here in the Triad.
A roadside tribute to Jeremiah Scales warmed the hearts of his grandmother and mother Andrea Scales.
“To see his face on the screen with other angels who have lost their lives to such a deadly poison,” Scales said. “His beautiful face is still alive in his home city it means so much.”
Jeremiah and 18 other faces are in rotation on two Winston-Salem billboards along Business 40.
It's part of a new Fentanyl billboard campaign created by Barb Walsh.
“All these 19 victims died in different ways from fentanyl those families are trying to pick themselves up,” Walsh said.
Barb is one of them. She's dedicating her life to supporting families through her non-profit Fentanyl Victims Network of NC.
“Because I lost my daughter Sophia," Walsh said. "She was 24 years old,”
Last August on the one-year anniversary of her daughter's death she created the advocacy group as a way to cope.
"I went into a deep hole I missed her and wanted to pursue justice for her and it became apparent that I was not alone and there were lots of families in NC facing the same challenge," Walsh said.
“My son's case closed within 6 months because the 4-5 guys would not speak on who they got it from,” Scales said.
Barb's daughter Sophia an accomplished college graduate died from drinking out of a water bottle that had diluted fentanyl In it.
In Jeremiah's case, he was hanging with friends when he took a Percocet laced with fentanyl he died in his sleep in June of last year
The high school athlete and Louisburg College student died in his sleep in June of last year.
To encourage folks to speak up, bring awareness and seek justice is why their children's faces will light up Business 40 for the next month.
"I want law enforcement to see them so they don’t put a victim in a box before they start an investigation,” Walsh said. “And for families who have lost someone to fentanyl and don know there are others out there.”
If you who need support or want advocate for families impacted fentanyl visit Fentanyl Victim Network NC.