Cleveland man loses 2nd sibling to drug overdose

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office is urging people to stop using illicit drugs or create a harm reduction plan if the person is unable to stop.

There were five suspected drug overdose deaths within a 12 hours on June 1.

“It’s so unfortunate that it had to happen to so many people on that day,” said Jermaine Pavlick.

Pavlick’s sister is one of the five people who died. She passed away on West 117th Street.

“To lose the first girl in our family is very tough,” said Pavlick.

Pavlick said they tried to help his sister, but it didn’t work out as they hoped.

“Every time we saw [her] having a problem, we would always reach out. We would always say hey we love you, we’re here, we can figure something else out, let’s go a different route,” said Pavlick. “But when are you addicted to something you’re addicted to something and it’s very hard to tell somebody to do something, when they’re mindset is on something.”

She was a mother of eight children. Pavlick said she was unable to care for them properly due to her drug addiction.

“She has loss some children to the system, but she always tried her hardest to be a good mother and to provide for her family,” said Pavlick.

Her upbringing was difficult. She and her brother were in and out of foster care homes.

They reunited when Pavlick was 16 years old.

“Finding her at a certain age really brought a good feeling to me, knowing I found a sister,” said Pavlick

She is Pavlick’s second sibling who has loss their life to drugs.

He is concerned and worried knowing it could get worse for other families.

“I think we should do more as a community, as one big giant family and take these drugs off the street,” said Pavlick.

The Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services board of Cuyahoga County provides a 24 hour crisis hotline. Please call 216-623-6888 for help.

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