Forever 42
June 16, 1981- January 7, 2024
Cory was very sick, almost from birth but you couldn’t tell it from looking at her, or by her sunny disposition. Her asthma kept her in and out of the hospital all her life nearly dying a couple of times as a child. Her mother and I bought a beathing machine for her and wherever Cory went it went with her. After the birth of Cory’s two children, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and Fibromyalgia. The protocol for treating MS back in 2005 was pain medication specifically Hydrocodone. Cory separated from her husband, and by 2021 right at the beginning of the pandemic Cory had no source of income and moved in with her sister and me. It was around this time she was in a new relationship with a man named Steve. She moved out with him and for the next 3 years I constantly worried about her accidentally overdosing on her prescription pain medications. At no time did the idea that she might be poisoned by a fake pill ever enter my mind and I didn’t even know what fentanyl was.
On the weekend of January 5,6, &7 2024 Cory and Steve were preparing to move back to Tennessee where Cory was supposed to take care of Steve’s disabled father. On January 5th Cory texted me good night at 10:39 pm. On January 6th her daughter Kaitlyn texted her to tell her the name of her new grandson at 8:00 pm. Cory never responded. On January 7th I called the Sheriff’s Office to do a welfare check on Cory and they found Cory and Steve dead in their bedroom. We know that she had gotten some pills from a “trusted” friend that Cory thought were prescription pain pills. They turned out to be counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl.
Cory didn’t “overdose” she was poisoned! Her death wasn’t an “accident” it was a homicide! Because her Death Certificate says her death was an “accident” her death was never fully investigated and the person responsible for her death is still out there dealing fentanyl to their unsuspecting victims!
Larry Hatfield
Cory’s dad