'We are losing a whole generation': Group gathers in Raleigh to remember, fight for those who died from fentanyl

Rain and thunder didn't deter dozens of parents and grandparents from gathering in front of the state capitol on Sunday afternoon.

The group was there to advocate for sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, lost to fentanyl overdoses.

For Debbie Peeden, it's been 10 heartbreaking months since her granddaughter, Ashley, passed away.

Ashley died in Greensboro of a fentanyl overdose.

"I promised her that people would know her story," Peeden said. "People would know her face, and that I would promise that I would get justice for her. Part of that promise I've been able to live up to. The justice part, I haven't been able to."

Sunday, Peeden was there to try and keep that promise.

"Any child can make a mistake," Peeden said. "But they shouldn't have to die from it."

This grandmother joined by others, all suffering through the same heartbreak.

"It is really the only time that we can be ourselves," Peeden said. "Because we are the only ones that understand each other."

Patricia Drewes lost her only daughter, Heaven Lee Nelson, to a fentanyl overdose too.

"They didn't break me," Drewes said. "You broke my heart, but you didn't break me."

Drewes organized Sunday's rally. The event featured a row of tents, each stuffed with pictures of those lost to overdoses across North Carolina.

According to new data from the North Carolina medical examiner's office, there were 314 suspected overdose deaths in the state just last month.

A grim total, pushing overdose deaths 7 percent higher so far this year, compared to the same period last year.

"We are losing a whole generation," Peeden said.

The families on the capitol lawn say they want to see stricter bonds, and higher penalties for people caught dealing fentanyl. They want the state to step up enforcement of the Felony Death by Distribution law.

"Every county needs to have a certain protocol that's followed," Peeden said.

Peeden knows she can't bring her granddaughter back. But she can send a message to the next mother, or grandmother, or granddaughter, before it's too late.

"We miss her," Peeden said. "We love her. We want to save somebody else from going through this kind of grief."