‘Not my baby:’ Lebanon family hopes for justice after son killed by fentanyl
WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — This July marks two years since 21-year-old Evan Leonard lost his life to a fentanyl overdose.
At the time, he believed he was taking cocaine. The man who allegedly sold Evan the laced drug has been charged with second-degree murder and a felony delivery of a controlled substance.
As his family waits for justice, they hope no other parent experiences this heartache.
“I think this is the third time I’ve been in this room since that day,” Ron Leonard, Evan’s father said.
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Evan’s childhood bedroom is filled with all the things he loved. “I still buy things. I still buy him stuff,” Nikki Leonard, Evan’s mother, said.
Evan was a collector of action figures, sci-fi movies, music, and books.
“Evan wanted to be a writer and this was the last book he has writing that he never got to finish,” Nikki said. Because Evan’s story ended far too soon.
“I just got off I-40 when the phone rang, and it was the roommate,” Ron said.
It was July of 2022 when Evan’s parents got the call that their youngest son didn’t wake up. “I just remember leaning up against the wall and just falling to the floor. And I was like there is no way. Just no way. Not my baby,” Nikki said.
His family rushed to Evan’s apartment in Nashville and would later learn that he overdosed on fentanyl.
“I just remember someone came out the door and said, ‘You can touch the bag,’ and it didn’t hit me, and I was like ‘the bag?’ And then they rolled him out in a body bag, and I just remember telling them to wake him up,” Nikki said.
Evan’s parents told News 2 opioids were not something their son ever experimented with before. At the time, he thought he was buying cocaine and planned to play video games with a friend that night.
“When this happens you can’t believe it happened to you. That it was my son that lost his life to this,” Nikki said.
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After months of an investigation, Metro Police would later arrest a man for selling a street drug containing fentanyl.
“His autopsy report proved that there was nothing by marijuana and fentanyl in his system,” Nikki said.
His parents are now hoping justice can help heal their broken hearts. “Getting justice for Evan is getting justice for every single person that this has happened to. Every mother that has sat in my place,” Nikki said.
“The things that I thought were so important before really don’t mean much of anything today. It has changed my perspective completely,” Ron said.
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Bringing with it a new chapter in Evan’s story. Full of more of Evan’s favorite things, but more importantly more love for who he was.
“I just try to focus on the good things that I still have in life, and I tell myself I have to live for Evan,” Nikki said.
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