‘Fentanyl is the devil’: Father blasts opioid crisis after son, daughter-in-law among 5 killed in party overdose
Couple’s four-month-old daughter was found in another room in the apartment
The father of one of the five people found dead from a fentanyl overdose at a party in an apartment in Colorado on Sunday has spoken out against the opioid crisis.
Dan Marquez, whose son Sabas “Sam” Daniel Marquez and daughter-in-law Karina Rodriguez were among the deceased, said: “Fentanyl’s no good, man.”
“It’s the devil. It must have just took them, just like that. All five of them,” he told The Denver Channel.
On Sunday, Denver’s Commerce County police found the bodies of three women and two men at an apartment. Police said that a sixth adult and a baby were found alive.
The surviving adult was Mr Marquez’ daughter Cora and the baby was his four-month-old granddaughter Aria.
The five deceased were identified on Tuesday as 24-year-old Marquez, his wife Rodriguez, 28; Humberto Arroyo-Ledezma, 32; Stephine Sonya Monroe, 29; and Jennifer Danielle Cunningham, 32.
Authorities said that preliminary investigation suggests the five had ingested a drug laced with fentanyl.
“The evidence suggests that the five people who died last night died from a drug overdose and that the drug overdose was fentanyl,” District Attorney Brian Mason told ABC 7 Denver. He added that the group probably did not know that they were ingesting fentanyl.
Mr Marquez said that he had sent his stepdaughter Salina to his son’s house on Sunday because his wife had grown worried.
“My stepdaughter went in there because my wife was really worried about it,” he said. “One o’clock, two o’clock, nobody… kept calling them, no answer. They all have cell phones, so we called their cell phones – no answer.”
“So, [my wife] called her daughter, Salina. So, Salina went over there – the door was open – she walked in, and they’re all lying on the floor, man.”
Mr Marquez added that his newborn granddaughter was in another room.
“The baby wasn’t crying at all, so she goes in the room – she must have heard Salina – and the baby started crying,” he said.
“So, I think maybe there was an angel or somebody there taking care of her. Sam [his son Sabas Marquez], he’s a good guy. He’s 24. He loved his job, always talking about his job, talking about his new daughter. He loved his daughter. He said, ‘That’s the new love of my life’,” he added.
A relative set up a GoFundMe campaign for three of the victims to help their families cover funeral costs.