Family of Cedar Rapids fentanyl overdose victim believe Iowa Senate bill would provide justice

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – A family from Cedar Rapids believes that justice will be served by a bill that is currently in the Iowa Senate after their daughter overdosed on fentanyl in March 2023.

“Brooklyn was the light of our lives; she was everything,” said Brooklyn’s mother, Angela Bowers.

“It’s just hard to continue on without her,” said Brooklyn’s sister Ayanna Quinn.

Every day, the Bower family travels to a cemetery in Cedar Rapids, where they keep their photos and memories on exhibit in a room. For the Bowers family, it is a fact. Last March, Brooklyn Bowers was discovered dead after a fentanyl overdose.

“She was everything I wish I could have been; she was funny, loving, she didn’t judge anybody, she was the most amazing person,” said Bowers.

Quinn and her sister shared a tight bond and frequently caught up on life.

“We would sit and catch up for hours,” said Quinn. “She was just the most amazing person.”

They had no idea about fentanyl before March 4th, 2023, much less that their hilarious, crazy, loving Brooklyn would be interested in it.

“I never knew in a million years that they were taking this drug and putting it in with other pills,” said Bowers.

Among the 471 Iowans who passed away from a heroin overdose between September 2022 and September of last year was Brooklyn. A bill that made it through the House and is currently in the Senate could charge the individual who gave the drug to the victim with first-degree murder. That is punishable by life in prison.

“It’s going to make them think twice about ‘hey, I’m going to give this to somebody, and it’s going to take a life,” said Bowers. “Now, it’s going to take your life.”

Whoever administered Brooklyn the lethal fentanyl dosage a year ago this week is not in custody. Should this bill pass, it might provide this family with something they currently lack.

“I feel like time has been taken out from underneath me,” said Ayanna. “It’s been a year of not living with her, seeing her, hearing her voice.