PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — At the age of 37, Derrick Hightower made his mother proud. He was the father of three children and this certified welder and pipefitter owned a business, but on June 26, 2024 Hightower entered a smoke shop for the last time.
Hightower’s mother, Wilma White, spoke to the smoke shop’s owner.
“‘He was stumbling,’” White said, recalling what the smoke shop’s owner told her. “‘Usually, he [came] in — … he’s not like that.’” So he said, “‘Your son bought a cigarette and a lighter and he paid for that.’ He [said] my son went out of the store and he said he saw Derek light a cigarette, and he said he looked up. He said your son had passed out.”
Hightower was taken to a hospital, and seven days later he was dead from fentanyl poisoning.
The Next Generation: Breaking Fentanyl’s Grip
Saturday morning at Bethany Baptist Church, White will join community leaders for a fentanyl awareness meeting. Michael Marshall of First Opportunities organized the meeting…