Opioid overdose: Mom of teenage victim speaks out

The mother of a teenage girl who died of a suspected opioid overdose in Livermore spoke out on Wednesday. 

Sheri Barr said her 16-year-old daughter Oceana Muth was a junior at Del Valle Continuation High School in Livermore and had a twin sister named Angelina. Muth died on Monday of a suspected opioid overdose. Barr said she is heartbroken, but she by sharing her daughter’s story, it will save other lives.

“Please watch your children,” Barr said. “If you see any difference in them, talk to them. It’s not anybody’s fault. Kids will be kids. It’s not anybody’s fault.”

Muth died one day after another teen was found dead of a suspected opioid overdose. Authorities have identified the teen as 18-year-old Justin Miles. Scott Adams, the stepfather of Miles and the creator of the cartoon Dilbert, talked about the boy’s death of social media and said he died from what appears to be a fentanyl overdose.

“There’s a fairly good likelihood my stepson Justin, now deceased, probably got two doses of Fentanyl yesterday,” Adams said on his social media Twitter account. “We weren't surprised. It had been a long battle with addiction since he was 14. He had a very bad head injury when he was 14 from a bike accident.”

Loris Mattox, Executive Director of the HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County said overdoses are increasing among young adults. She encouraged users to Narcan or Fentanyl strips in an effort to prevent overdoses.

“In Alameda County, it’s just assumed now, we’re at a level where it’s assumed now that fentanyl is in all of our drug supply,” Mattox said. “It’s just important for adults to have realistic conversations with their children about their drug use.”

Barr said she would pay more attention to her other children because nothing can take away the pain of losing a child.

“We’ll get through this day by day,” she said. “It’s just an epidemic and it’s very sad.”

Barr said her friends have set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for Oceana Muth’s funeral.