Millcreek mother loses daughter to powerful opioid police call a 'killer counterfeit'


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MILLCREEK — As a child, Cassidy Cochran had big dreams of becoming an actor like her mom. Instead, 16 years later, Charla Bocchicchio, of Millcreek, woke to a barrage of phone messages.

"OK, this is it. This is the moment I've been fearing and worrying about her whole adolescence," Bocchicchio said. "But it still isn't the thing you want to hear on the other end of the phone."

Last November, Cassidy died of a drug overdose. The medical examiner found high doses of fentanyl in her system, a synthetic opioid.

"She was my only child, and we were like best buddies when she was younger," she said.

Cochran's talent was clear at an early age. In a home video taken when she was a girl she belted out the popular theme song to the musical "Annie." It's now a cherished memory for her mother.

"She was our sunshine," Bocchicchio said.

Her parents were honest about how she died in her obituary writing, "This is our truth."

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Cochran got hooked immediately. She suffered from depression and anxiety, and Bocchicchio believes she self-medicated. On the night she died, Cochran and her boyfriend thought they were taking heroin — it was something far more lethal. Fentanyl also comes in IV form. According to the medical examiner, Cochran unknowingly injected a lethal dose of it.

Brian Besser, district agent in charge with the United States Department of Justice and Drug enforcement Administration, said, "We're seeing it proliferate more and more across the state of Utah."

Within the last year, the Salt Lake City Metro Narcotics Task Force has taken down two pill pressing operations in Utah, "These are counterfeit opioid pills that are being pushed out on the street to look like authentic pharmaceutical-grade oxycodone tablets," he said.

One was June 15, 2016. And then in November agents seized millions of fentanyl pills in Cottonwood Heights, easily the largest seizure in the state's history."One person may get a counterfeit pill out of a batch, take it and use it. The second person may take the pill and die, almost immediately," Besser said.

While there are only three confirmed deaths from fentanyl overdoses in Utah, DEA agents believe there have been far more. Nationwide, fentanyl is now the fifth most common drug involved in overdose deaths. It's a substance so deadly, even a small amount can kill you if it comes in contact with your skin.

Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It's cheaper and easier to find on the street than oxycodone. The table operations use blue dye and stamps to make them look exactly like the original. But there's no way to tell how strong they are. Even one little pill could kill you, doctors say.

"If you're buying them off the streets, you do not have the foggiest idea of what you're buying," said Dr. Steve Warren with the Adult Care Clinic.

"It's literally a game of Russian roulette," Besser said.

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Cochran had been in and out of drug rehab since she was 16. Most recently, she completed a nine-month residential treatment program. "She was bright and happy," Bocchicchio said. "It was like every wonderful thing about her personality just radiated from her."

But when she relapsed, she was no match for the killer counterfeit. "You never know when it's going to be the last time," she said.

And though they never wanted to be in the spotlight this way, Bocchicchio now fights to save others. "The more we can educated the public and our own kids when they're young, maybe by shedding some light on it we can start to see some change."

Cochran wasn't just Bocchicchio's daughter, she could have been anyone's daughter, sister, or friend.

Police say Utah laws are not up to date about fentanyl. They say Utah needs stronger public safety-oriented laws to prevent drug dealers from killing people for profit.

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Heather Simonsen

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