A drug overdose has claimed yet another life in Palm Coast: Samantha Brewer, 30, who had struggled with substance abuse for several years, overdosed at her home in the R-Section Friday night and later died, despite paramedics’ efforts to regain a pulse that at first seemed successful.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death as a homicide under a new directive by Sheriff Staly to attempt to trace the origin of the drugs in all overdose deaths. “The sheriff has given direction on all of those to investigate them and try to establish where the drugs come from,” Sheriff’s Chief Mark Strobridge said today. “So they treat it like a homicide case, a murder case. Now, I don’t know that that’s the circumstances in this case.”
Strobridge elaborated: “It’s not necessarily that it’s suspicious, but all overdose deaths we are going to treat them and investigate them as we have recently, that’s our new stand procedure, because the whole purpose and the ability to charge these people with crimes really stems from the idea that they’re killing each other. Murder is no less heinous of a crime just because somebody has an addiction, and when somebody has an addiction, why are you putting stuff in front of them?”
According to a Flagler County Sheriff’s report, Brewer texted her friend John Yevoli Friday evening, asking him to come over. He told her if he could find a ride, he would. He was in the C-Section. Not long afterward, he found an Alliance Taxi waiting for him outside his home. Brewer had paid for the ride.
Yevoli, 43, got to Brewer’s house at 6 Royal Tern Lane at about 10:30 p.m. The two talked for 20 minutes in the living room before they decided to go to her bedroom to watch a movie on Netflix. He tried to turn on Brewer’s TV but couldn’t figure it out. He took a brief bathroom break–three or four minutes, as he told deputies.
All the while Brewer’s mother, Renae Knight, 57, was in the house (she’s owned it for some 15 years). Knight had come home at about 7:30 p.m. and had made dinner at 9:30 p.m. That was the last time she’d spoken to her daughter before going into her bedroom. Yevoli banged on her bedroom door and told her to call 911. He ran back to Brewer and started CPR, moving her to the floor as he started following directions from the dispatcher on the phone.
Two sheriff’s deputies were first to arrive at the scene. They found Brewer unresponsive. Knight told deputies her daughter had “a known drug problem and was very actively using narcotics but she was unsure what kind,” according to the sheriff’s report. They asked Yevoli to step out and took over CPR. One of them administered two doses of Narcan, the antidote that all deputies now carry and that’s designed to help restore a more normal breathing pattern. It didn’t work.
“In plain view within the bedroom,” one of the deputies reported, “I observed several items consistent with intravenous drug usage to include, needles, a torn baggie, a small baggie with a white powder substance and a spoon with a cotton ball on it.” Another deputy reported: “It should be noted that while providing CPR several hypodermic syringes were observed laying around the
bedroom dresser area.”
Flagler County Fire Rescue unit 21 arrived and took over, managing to restore a faint pulse. Brewer was taken to Florida Hospital Flagler, while detectives and the Crime Scene Investigations unit reported to the house in the R-Section, which became a crime scene. Responses to overdoses have become a routine part of local law enforcement’s beats.
Yevoli in 2015 was convicted on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance, was sentenced to probation, violated probation, and spent a year in jail. He was also found guilty of shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia. Brewer had numerous run-ins with the law, including several arrests for drug possession, trafficking and sale (hydrocodone, oxycodone, controlled substances, and others) and other charges.
Brewer, the mother of a young child, had captioned her last Facebook profile picture with the words: “My story isn’t over yet.” The day after she died, a friend wrote: Your story will Forever live on.”
The father of Brewer’s child, FlaglerLive learned Thursday, is Joseph Colon, the 34-year-old Palm Coast man indicted on a first-degree murder charge last February in the death by overdose of Savannah Deangelis, who had allegedly taken possession of a package of drugs from Colon moments before the overdose at her home in Grand Haven the previous fall. Colon is at the Flagler County jail, awaiting trial on that and other charges.
Richard says
Unfortunately her only “story” is her constant drug abuse with a circle of “enablers’ which eventually caused her death, mother and “friend” included. How sad and totally preventable. Why is that millennial’s are never satisfied with their lives and constantly want to “escape” by using a variety of drugs to make their troubles and their lives SO much better. Yeah right! At 30 years old I had a family to support with two jobs and going to night school too. There wasn’t anytime to get involved in drugs and never enough money to pay the bills. Where are these millennial’s getting the money to do the drugs in the first place? From their enabler’s of course!
Really says
RIP looks like someone’s on thr hook for Murder
Anonymous says
I hope her child is safe and NOT living in that house.
oldtimer says
I guess I’m lucky, drugs only cost my son a 20 year prison sentence. This epidemic is becoming all too common
Ariana386 says
Sooooo, did Yevoli test positive? Seems unlikely there were drugs and paraphernalia around, she paid for a taxi to bring him from the C section….yet, they were just “watching Netflix”? It wasn’t worth it, n now that baby will grow up w/NO parents, thanks to drugs…😞
Born and Raised Here says
God Damn The Pusher Man
ground hog day says
This has to stop!!!
Anonymous44 says
This is so sad! Brooklyn’s father is in prison, for who knows how long, and now samantha’s gone. I really thought that she was doing better. Another life taken too early, from this terrible disease.
Aj says
So sad
tulip says
It may be a not very nice thing to say, but maybe the child will be better off without either of its parents as, hopefully, he/she is living with decent normal drug free people and therefore will have a better chance of a good life.
I also think that if the government who is always making rules, would’ve have forced the states to have a national registry of some sort along time ago when it was becoming very evident there was a serious problem. If that had been done people couldn’t get multiple prescriptions from multiple doctors and then sell the drugs off pill by pill to illegal users and a doctor could cha-eck that registry before writing out a prescription. With the ability to use that registry, pharmacists could also look that person up before filling the prescription. Ironically there is a decongestant called Sudafed. Now a person has to sign for it and is only allowed a certain amount a month. Sudafed and others meds like it were always an OTC pill for allergies and nasal decongestant. However, doesn’t seem to be much monitoring of dangerous opiods and other controlled substance prescriptions.
Our leaders talk a lot about the drug and opiod problem but, as usual, do nothing to help prevent it. The problem cannot be totally eliminated but having a national registry could certainly squash down a lot of it.
Brian says
This is very sad. This girl has eighteen arrests dating back to 2006 – it’s a shame no one could help her. My heart goes out to that beautiful little girl.
ELMER says
JUST SAY NO!!!!!!! PERIOD!!
sam says
People need to take responsibility for their own actions, we need to stop blaming other people for poor decisions.
Agkistrodon says
Outright travesty that a child will now grow up missing their mother. If you play with opioids you will lose, plain and simple. Don’t think you can do it just for fun, it will grab you, hook you, make you do things you never wished you did, and then it might just kill you. Just don’t do it.
Ashley says
Richard, you probably wont even read this, but why is your comment generalizing all “millennials”? I am not sure of your age but there are plenty of 55+ retirees in this town that squander their social security checks at the 20+ bars in town, then get in their cars and drive home smashed to smithereens endangering not only themselves but others around them. The difference between them and this girl is her drug use caused her death, not some jerk who decided to drive home drunk from the VFW that didn’t care about getting arrested because he is retired with nothing left to live for. And don’t get me started on the elderly population in this county that sell their prescription pills to people to make money for themselves. This has nothing to do with “millennials”. This has to do with the cycle of addiction.
In the 1970’s, 20% of serviceman during the Vietnam war came back fully addicted to heroin. 40% reported to have tried it. Heroin has been around before my parents graduated high school and long before. So before you go bashing an entire age group of people who are known to be some of the most educated and progressive history please refrain from showing your ignorance and comment something that adds substance to a discussion.
Seeing so many people that I went to high school with dying from their addictions breaks my heart. It could have happened to anyone. Most of us were all friends at one time. People make their own choices. Unfortunately, the choice to dabble in hard drugs is a slippery slope. The fun goes and the depression arrives. It scrambles the brain, destroys the body and people(friends, family, coworkers) are never the same.
Whether the addiction is drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling or eating, there needs to be more resources out there. I can’t wait to see the day where money is put towards services that benefit the young and the elderly community and not towards funding the refurbishment of some stupid Palm Coast golf course because, candidly, us “millennials” can’t afford a round of golf anyway.
Ann says
such a pretty girl-what a waste-that Colon is surely the devil in disguise-hope they throw the book.
Bc says
Look a junkie is a junkie there is no changing that In Europe they give the drug addicted drugs that are not tainted the drug addicted get there high and live they need not to rob people or kill themSelfs with bad drugs it’s time we start that here it’s not thrv pharmaceutical drugs that are killing People it’s the street tanted drugs killing our youth start a program that a junkie can get there fix safe and stay alive
Ryan says
So, was this loser arrested or not? I bet he brought the drugs over. Sad that happened to that girl.
Judy says
Let us all pray for Samantha and her family.
Laura says
Praying for this family. addiction is a very sad thing to go through. I personally have not gone through but have had many friends go through it.
FBPC says
Your blsming the mother as an enabler because her daughter lived and died at home. Perhaps you don’t know that maybe she loved her daughtee but hated drugs. Fl has extremely stick regulations .Her daughter may have promised to stay straught. But didnt make it. In Florida you cant put someone out of your house not in Flagler County if that person has been there 10 days . It requires a ejection at $175. Or eviction at $500
Parents want their child whatever age to straighten out
Your not going to file an eviction paper and fight with uoir child the next 30 days until court hearing.
Bake Rack 72 hrs maybe .anither court option cant think of the name but you go before the court and the judge deceides wherather to send yoi off for help or not. And most drug abusers are great manipulators Often times they want to get help,but hello welcome to Fl help is not free. METHIONINE CLININS RUN FOR PROFIT
Suboxen or Subutex run for profit. It is hard for an afdict to get help. The programs should be funded through the state certainly they make enough off these big dealers busted to put $ into legitimate programs.
People who want and need help cant it . They might scrape $5.0 a day to scire. How much does ER visits for sepsis occur how many days hospitalized sepsis,celulitis, organ failure, ambulance and police and FD calls
Some states provide suboxen or metodone free. Addiction is a disease. A bad disease one person might ger while the other doesn’t, like diabetes, like cancer,. The yoing people see doing drugs no different than drinking.
They are taught in school tge highs it produces , not about the chemical rewiring of ones brain. Neurotransmitter and just because they try it revrestional at a party with friends one night, the drug itself may become their best friend, causing them to lose everything their health their home their lives. The Its not going to happen to me, attitute is a lost words. Cant be used like i sm not going to get pregnant. Addiction is a real disease developed quickly. If i was teaching in schools i would make sure the students visited day care centers where kids are born with deformities visit hospital nursery and watch the newborn going through withdrawl. Let ADFC tell them how many kids have been taken awsy from addictrd parents. As a retired nurse that has worked ER to knowing people who became addicted. Not one of them had a goal of when i get older i am going to be a junkie. a drug addict. We invest in safe the turtiles here, in beautiful magnlia trees. ,etc. It is past time to invest in really helping the addicts. $ into programs not just detox and send them back to repeat. Not jail, they get plenty of drugs there to. It has to be something like suboxen that kills the desire and long term psychological help. A cure doesnt ever occur, like diabetes, but you have to have the programs that will stop it and the user has to go through long term conseling. The parents need prayers and a program for yhem to be helped also.The person they love is very sick and it makrs the “enabler sick” loved one sick also with torn up merves, depression PTSD. heart disease. So not havung programs to stop the craving and counseling is costing every community a lot more $$ than if they did.
Richard says
@ Ashley – I do read each and every comment. As far as my comment regarding “all millennial’s” I did not include the word ALL but one could infer that I was painting the term broadly. For that I apologize and will change that to “some millennial’s”. However, when reading Flaglerlive in regards to people who have overdosed on drugs they all seem to be in the millennial age group versus older folks or even seniors who tend to commit suicide because of terminal diseases which is another Flagler County problem.
@ FBPC – So it is everyone’s problem except for the addict and their enablers. Ever hear of “Tough Love”? Maybe the addict should just say NO MORE but instead of having to live in the REAL world they would much rather live in their “fantasy” world. BTW, I was an enabler a long time ago when my oldest son in college became an addict on alcohol. No different than a drug addict. Thank GOD he is now a “reforming alcoholic” and has been drug free for over 30 years. He did that because HE wanted a better life not because his mother & I wanted it for him. I am VERY proud of him today as he went on to get his master’s at University of Illinois and his PHD at Duke University.
Jess says
@Ashley: You said it so well. Florida needs an affordable mental health system.
@Richard: Your “tough love” comes off as besserwisser and schadenfreude. Addiction is a disease. Florida lacks appropriate resources for addicts to recover. Most rehabs are taking people’s money and killing them. If you are interested in this issue, watch documentary on YouTube called “from rehab to a body bag”
Really says
Keep em high and pimp em out is the motto around here RIP
Mondex Mel says
Everyone wants to put the blame on stuff that is prescribed for folks who have chronic life long pain , like from a traffic accident or such. The fact is anyone who needs that kind of a narcotic medication just to be able to do basic daily living, should make sure that those meds are kept in a safe & secure place at all
times, those that don’t are part of the problem. Folks that have been in narcotic meds do NOT get a high from it, ONLY slight pain reduction for short periods of time. But those who do NOT need it take it for a high. All this does is make it impossible for those in need to get the proper amount of medication that they need from their Dr… SOOO the folks that are under prescribed have to go & buy them from people who fake injuries in order to get them…. it is a horrific cycle.. worse than a menstrual cycle… too bad Dr’s don’t listen to their patients & look @ x rays instead of some FDA text book recommendations dosage.
Dr’s today are NOT allowed to prescribe what a patient REALLY needs, instead.. the government is telling a patient what she can get, & that also is sad
Jenny Guerrero says
Rip Samantha love you cuz
F-section Drummer says
Sad to read this in 2022. I randomly googled her name… not sure why.
I knew Samantha when we were in middle school. I think her father was in jail or something and her mother used to work a lot and come home late. I never met her mom, but she drove a faded red mustang and my dad seemed to fancy her. I doubt she was a bad mom… Just another single woman forced into a hard life by a system that punishes women for having children.
Samantha had a lot of bad friends even before highschool but she wasn’t a bad person.
Sleazy highschool boys with cars used to pick her up and get her high way before she was ever old enough to understand how severely she was being taken advantage of. I had a huge crush on her, but my mountain bike just couldn’t compete.
Not every depressed 12 year old is adequately street smart or emotionally mature and wise enough to avoid falling prey to the clutches of sick and indulgent evildoers.
The thing that makes me angry is that everyone could see that Samantha was in trouble and none of the adults did anything to help her. Unfortunately, she was blamed for most of the trouble she got into because she dressed a bit inappropriately and acted flirty. The fact that she had some black and latino friends certainly gain her any legitimacy among the snooty, and mostly white Palm Coasters. Our teachers would either sit her in the front row so they could look down her shirt, or treat her like a dumb piece of trash.
Even if there were inexcusable gaps in supervision at home… Why was a mother forced to work such long hours just to get by? Where were the guidance counselors and after school programs?
This is what happens when people fall through the cracks.
So many of you want to criticize a dead girl for her mistakes. I’m willing to bet that it somehow makes you feel better about neglecting the people in your lives who are in need of help.
For those of you who elude to things about her or the circumstances surrounding her death as if she is someone you know personally: Perhaps you took advantage of her in some way or another.
I don’t know how God will judge Samantha, but I do know that God will deal justice on all of the people who knowingly let a little girl in the F-section get so incredibly lost in plain sight.
Samantha and I lost touch during highschool. I did run into her one time randomly while working retail in PC when we were both in our mid 20’s. She came behind the counter and gave me a big hug (not something most would have done). I’ll never forget those big glassy eyes and the smell of her perfume mixed with cigarettes. I felt sad seeing her then, and I feel sad seeing her face on this article here. Samantha had flaws, but she started out as a good person and I believe that she had a good heart and that she cared about people.
I’ll be praying that this broken society gives the child Samantha left behind a better life than it gave her.
May God have mercy on all of the people who are sick and in need of help. Drug addiction is a sickness and people who get stuck in the web need help.
Tough love and the school of hard knocks are fairy tales told by selfish people who don’t want to share the silver spoons they were born with.
jOE sTOLFI says
.. Thank you for your response ..
Lisa says
This is a beautifully written explanation/tribute to your friend. I’m sure there are so many now who wish they would’ve tried harder or done something different to help.i pray she is at peace and that her little girl feels all the love she needs.
Donna Smith says
Where was the Child, can this be child endangerment charges too?