Mother warns of ‘silent killer’ who killed both her children in less than a year

A grieving mother has urged parents to educate their children about the dangers of drugs after losing both her children to a fentanyl overdose within ten months.

Tammy Lyon-Gordon has opened up about how she is “living with the worst pain possible” as she tries to navigate a life without her son Tyler and daughter Jenna, who tragically passed away at their family home in California’s Riverside County.

Tyler was just 18 when he was found unconscious in his bedroom on the morning of April 23, 2020, after consuming what he believed to be Percocet, which he purchased from someone on social media, according to the Mercury News.

It later emerged that the drug was laced with fentanyl – a highly addictive and fast-acting opioid 100 times more powerful than morphine – causing him to suffer a fatal overdose.

His cause of death was listed as acute fentanyl intoxication.

Siblings Tyler, 18, and Jenna, 16, both died after a fatal overdose of fentanyl (KTLA)

Less than 12 months after Tyler’s untimely death, his mother suffered another devastating blow when her 16-year-old daughter, Jenna, also died at home after taking counterfeit Xanax.

It turned out that the teenage schoolgirl had actually been given pure fentanyl.

In a cruel twist of fate, she was also found unconscious in her bedroom, just like her older brother.

Jenna was spotted with her boyfriend Raymond Gene Tyrrell Jr. found, who was also incapacitated, before the pair were rushed to hospital.

She could not be saved and was pronounced dead, but the 18-year-old man was resuscitated and survived.

Tyrrell was later arrested and charged with murder in connection with the youngster’s death, but was eventually convicted of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter on July 31 this year, hitting him with a three-year prison sentence.

Speaking about her heartbreak, mum Tammy said the judges’ decision ‘brought her to her knees’.

Their devastated mother Tammy described the highly powerful drug as an ‘invisible killer’ (KTLA)

“I feel like I have lost my daughter again,” she said in a victim impact statement. “On February 24, 2021, my entire world changed for the second time: I lost my child at the hands of someone else.

“While the paramedics were in my home trying to save my daughter, I was on my knees begging God to let me switch places with Jenna, to take me instead. I have lost 35 pounds since Jenna’s life was taken.

“I had already lost my 18-year-old son. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t breathe because of my constant anxiety.

“I’ve been battling depression for over three years. I’m constantly in flight-or-fight mode.”

Tammy said her “purpose in life” was motherhood, and it has now been “stolen” from her because of fentanyl.

The grief-stricken mother said her children’s deaths still “don’t seem real” to her, and she encouraged other parents to educate their children about the deadly risks associated with using illegal substances.

She told US news outlet KTLA: “It (fentanyl) really is the invisible killer.

The DEA shared an image to illustrate what a lethal dose of fentanyl can look like (DEA)

“They had no idea they were using fentanyl,” Tammy continued. ‘The fact that they die at home, a place where they felt safe, haunts me every day.

‘I live with the worst pain possible. Talk to your children about the dangers. Don’t lose them to this medicine.’

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has warned Americans that it only takes a small amount of fentanyl to cause a fatal reaction, prompting Deputy Special Agent Anthony Chrysantis to issue an emotional please.

“This drug that comes through the cartels is widely available, and you have to be careful because if you get your hands on the wrong stuff, you can die,” he said.

Chrysantis said the DEA is currently seizing record levels of fentanyl, both in pill and powder form.

According to a 2023 report from the National Center for Health Statistics, overdose deaths involving the drug increased by about 279 percent in the U.S. between 2016 and 2023.