Rochester Hills Mom Tearfully Testifies Before Congress About Sons' Fentanyl Deaths

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI — A Rochester Hills mom tearfully told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday they're not doing enough to fight the opioid crisis and stop illegal drugs at the border after her two sons accidentally died from prescription pills laced with fentanyl.

Rebecca Kiessling said her two sons, Caleb, 20, and Kyler, 18, died in an Oakland County hotel room on July 29, 2020 when they took prescription pain pills from a drug dealer they thought was Percocet. However, the pills actually contained fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid drug that can be lethal in tiny amounts.

Kiessling argued in front of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security that the government isn’t doing enough to prevent illegal drugs from coming into the country.

"We need to protect our children," Kiessling said to members of Congress. "They didn’t ask for that. This wasn’t demand. They didn’t want fentanyl. They thought they were getting Percocets."

Kiessling told members of Congress investigators told her the fentanyl-laced pills were traced back to Mexico. She urged the members to take action at the southern border.

"We have to secure our border," Kiessling said. "If we had Chinese troops lining up along our Southern border with weapons aimed at our people, with weapons of mass destruction aimed at our cities, you damn well know you would do something about it."

Kiessling said officials used Narcan, which is an overdose-reversing spray, to save the life of the drug dealer Lorenzo Brabo, who is now in prison. A 17-year-old also died in the hotel room from the pills.

"I don't use the term 'drug overdose' because this was not an overdose. This was murder," Kiessling said. "This is a war. Act like it. Do something."

Drug-overdose deaths hit a record high in Michigan in 2021, with fentanyl responsible for the majority of those drug overdose deaths.

Federal officials have blamed drug cartels in China and Mexico as the primary source of fentanyl that makes it way into the U.S.

"We have a weather balloon from China going across the country," Kiessling said. "Nobody died, and everybody's freaking out about it. But 100,000 die every year, and nothing's being done. Not enough is being done."