Editor’s note: This story describes the death of a young child.
On April 19, 2023, Ashley Green-Winters sent her 3-year-old son Cassius, fondly called “Cash,” to spend the weekend at his father’s house.
“At 1:58 [a.m.], I got the worst phone call any parent could ever imagine to get,” Green-Winters said.
His father had found him unresponsive in bed. Cash was rushed to the hospital and, soon after, doctors pronounced him dead.
Autopsy results four months later revealed that Cash died of fentanyl poisoning. What Green-Winters didn’t know before was that someone was using drugs in Cash’s father’s home. And somehow Cash came into contact with the dangerous substance.
Last April, a year after Cash’s death, Green-Winters marched the streets of downtown Louisville pushing for access to Narcan in Black communities.
Narcan is the brand name for naloxone, a nasal spray that can almost immediately reverse an overdose.
Green-Winters said people need to know more about the treatment.
“I’m like, ‘Why ain't nobody talking about this?” she said. “Why is there no Narcan? Why aren't people focusing on the babies, the ones that can't protect themselves, like, who's gonna be their voice?’”
This April 19 marked two years since Cash’s death. Green-Winters calls it her son’s “angel-versary.”
She said this time of year is overwhelming, but it allows her to reflect on her life. Before she was pregnant with Cash, Green-Winters said she was addicted to cocaine. She celebrated six years of sobriety last month.
“I didn't know what fentanyl was before Cash,” she said. “It was foreign even though I was a recovering addict.”
Green-Winters has shared her story on Facebook, and on national television on the Steve Wilkos Show.
This year, she’s traveling the country spreading awareness about fentanyl poisoning in children and pushing for more access to Narcan. She marched in Washington, D.C. with thousands of families who’ve lost loved ones to fentanyl.
“If I can help another mother and prevent her from going through what I've been through, then I don't think my child would have died in vain,” Green-Winters said. “So, that was my goal to go down to that rally and to show the faces of the babies that've been affected by it, and show the seriousness of this epidemic.”
Improving access
A study from Johns Hopkins University showed drug overdose deaths nearly doubled in Black communities nationwide from 2019 to 2022.
In response, a coalition of Black community leaders, government officials, and health experts recently launched the “You Have the Power to Change Lives” campaign. It aims to help people find free Narcan through trusted providers in cities including Louisville, Milwaukee and Detroit.
Daliah Heller is with the national public health organization Vital Strategies. Vital Strategies has provided financial support to LPM.
“We know that every overdose is preventable, and we know that most overdoses happen at home, many with a witness present. If a witness has Naloxone, they can intervene and reverse the overdose, saving a life,” Heller said.
In 2023, overdose deaths in Kentucky overall decreased from the previous year. But overdose deaths among Black Kentuckians increased.
Shreeta Waldon is a campaign partner and the executive director of the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition.
“Everyone has said it is now one of the leading causes of preventable deaths for Black adults in this country…and yet, resources aren't reaching our communities. Why? Black lives have been ignored, underfunded and left behind,” she said.
The campaign’s website maps dozens of locations in Louisville and across Kentucky offering free Narcan. Some local fire departments, barbershops, community centers, restaurants and churches are equipped with the live-saving medication.
Green-Winters said she believes this, paired with increased awareness of fentanyl, is the best way to reduce overdose deaths in Black communities.
“I'm so adamant about my story, too, not just to prevent another poisoning in a baby, but I'm trying to target the African American community, because we don't talk about it enough,” she said. “So even though it happens to us, we're quiet about it and it's like a hush-hush thing.”
Jefferson County had the most fentanyl overdoses in the Commonwealth in 2023.
These days, Green-Winters is collecting donations to fill diaper bags with items for new mothers in Louisville. Each one will be equipped with Narcan and fentanyl test strips, she said.
She said she wants to talk to legislators about writing laws to protect kids exposed to opioids. Her dream is to have a bill passed in Cash’s honor.
“This epidemic has been affecting the little children, and they have no idea what's going on,” she said. “They're innocent. They're the most vulnerable of this epidemic, and nobody's talking about them. And I want my son to be the face of that.”
She said Cash’s story inspired her to begin a life-long journey of advocacy in hopes of helping other kids and families.
If you or someone you love uses drugs alone, you can get 24/7 emergency and intervention services from Never Use Alone by calling (877) 696-1996.
