Susan Johns feels frustrated that the state Legislature has stymied the passing of a bill that would hold drug dealers accountable for overdose deaths.
But she has not lost hope that one day other families will get the justice that she could not.
"There has to be a message sent to drug dealers," Johns said. "I'm not giving up. I'm going to keep on fighting."
The bill has been introduced twice by Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Ford City, and approved by his fellow House representatives on both occasions. But the piece of legislation has met unexpected roadblocks.
"Nobody can figure out why the House ... appropriations committee is not letting this move," he said. "I'm going to hammer on this until it passes."
Pyle's first introduction of the bill came in 2005 after prosecutors were unable to pursue homicide charges against those who were allegedly responsible for the 2002 overdose death of 17-year-old Zachary Zion, Johns' son. Zion was one of Pyle's former students at Ford City High where he once taught.
The proposed legislation would change a law holding drug dealers accountable for overdose deaths that was struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2005, in conjunction with Zion's case. The new legislation would classify the crime as a first-degree felony, rather than third-degree homicide.
Instead of having to prove a drug dealer acted maliciously, a prosecutor would have to show that the drug dealer intentionally, knowingly or recklessly sold a fatal dose of drugs, Pyle said.
The first proposition of the bill was defeated in a Senate committee after House approval, Pyle said.
He reintroduced the bill in 2006, he said, and it is sitting in a House appropriations committee after being approved by the representatives.
Pyle said he plans to reintroduce the bill in January.
"For the life of me, I don't know how the appropriations committee can be canning this thing," he said.
One stumbling block legislators have run into is the mandatory sentence included in the bill, he said. The legislation calls for an automatic five-year sentence for a drug dealer convicted of selling a fatal dose of drugs, he said.
Pyle refuses to remove what he called the "teeth" of the bill.
"They have to know they're going to get in trouble," he said.
Zachary Zion went to a local festival with friends on Aug. 2, 2002, according to his mother. He was found unresponsive early the next morning in a Comfort Inn hotel room in East Franklin. Investigators determined he had died from a heroin overdose.
For Johns, mystery shrouds what happened that night. She described her blond-haired, blue-eyed son as a good student who participated in sports, clubs and volunteered, not someone who would get involved in drugs.
Since Zion's death, Johns has talked at schools, guided reality tours held at the county jail and donated money in her son's name to ARC Manor.
"All I want to do is to get the message out to protect our kids," she said.
Johns compared holding drug dealers responsible for an overdose death to a drunken driver whose actions result in a death. The actions of both are not intentional, she said, but a drunken driver is lawfully responsible.
"If someone dies, there has to be a punishment," she said.
"This bill has given me hope," she said, but the delay in passage sometimes wears on her spirit and seems to take away from the advocacy she does.
"I do feel like Pennsylvania's letting us down," she said.
Johns is not alone in her fight. She was contacted last month by Bob Tyler, of suburban Philadelphia (Delaware County). Tyler, Johns and another Pittsburgh family stay in touch about the bill's progress.
Tyler had been working on gathering support for Pyle's bill from his end of the state after his daughter died of a drug overdose two years ago.
"We're still frustrated about it," he said. "We just don't understand why it has taken this long."
Tyler collected about 1,100 signatures on a petition that he gave to the chairman of the House appropriations committee earlier this week, he said.
On July 16, 2006, Tyler said he received a call from his wife who said that something was wrong with their 20-year-old daughter.
"Right there a part of me died," he said.
Two days later, the girl died from an overdose on prescription drugs, Tyler said. The drugs were sold to her, he said.
Along with the families' support, Pyle said, he has received backing from district attorneys, the attorney general and other state groups.
He consulted with Johns frequently while writing the legislation, she said.
"He kept in touch a lot," Johns said. "We tried to help each other as much as we could."
Continued work and support of Pyle's legislation has given Johns an outlet for some of the ambition and frustration she feels. Through feelings of defeat sometimes creep in as time lapses and no action on the legislation is taken, Johns said she knows she has to be determined.
"It's taken some of my will away from me and I don't want to lose that will," Johns said. "I don't ever want to give up on this bill."
"It's not for Zack now," she said. "It's not for him now, he doesn't have that chance."
To sign a petition supporting the legislation, visit www.forzackssake.org.
