North Texas family remembers daughter killed from fentanyl overdose

[5/5] Mark Garbade, Ladatto's stepfather, stares into the distance in his family's Duncanville home. On Dec. 30, 2022, Garbade went into Ladatto‘s room just before midnight. He found her unresponsive. “I heard the most awful scream from him and I ran to her room,” Brewer said. (Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)

[1/5] Amy Brewer stands in her Duncanville living room near a family photo of her daughter, Marissa Ladatto, who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2022. With Ladatto’s death, everything they had planned for the future — college graduation, seeing their daughter walk down the aisle, grandkids — was gone. “When she died, our future died,” Brewer said.(Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)

[2/5] Brewer touches her daughter's urn on Tuesday at the family's Duncanville home. Brewer said she had no idea her daughter did drugs until a few months before her death, when she admitted to Brewer she had been experimenting with different drugs.(Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)

[3/5] Lilith, Ladatto's pet cat, looks over a photo of the 21-year-old. At the time of her death, Ladatto was a student at Dallas College, studying to become a teacher. (Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)

[4/5] Brewer's tattoo is in memory of her daughter who died. Ladatto loved to sing, and had an extremely outgoing personality, making friends with as many people as possible. “She lit up a room,” Brewer said. “She still shines.”(Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)

[5/5] Mark Garbade, Ladatto's stepfather, stares into the distance in his family's Duncanville home. On Dec. 30, 2022, Garbade went into Ladatto‘s room just before midnight. He found her unresponsive. “I heard the most awful scream from him and I ran to her room,” Brewer said. (Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)

[1/5] Amy Brewer stands in her Duncanville living room near a family photo of her daughter, Marissa Ladatto, who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2022. With Ladatto’s death, everything they had planned for the future — college graduation, seeing their daughter walk down the aisle, grandkids — was gone. “When she died, our future died,” Brewer said.(Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)