Early Wednesday morning, the lifeless body of 21-year-old Aayla Asham was discovered alongside two others in a suburban Winnipeg home. Police believe that the mother of two small children and her friends died of fentanyl overdoses.
Aayla鈥檚 younger sister, Aatlanta Asham, knew something was wrong after she hadn鈥檛 heard from her older sister for two days. Later Wednesday, she found out through social media and news reports that her sister had died.
鈥淚t wasn't even confirmed yet and my family didn't even know,鈥� Aatlanta said in a heartbreaking interview with CTV Winnipeg.
鈥淧eople were writing on her (Facebook) wall saying, 'rest in peace Aayla,' and we didn't even know for sure yet and it's just really hard seeing that when you don't even know for sure if she's actually gone.鈥�
Aatlanta said her sister struggled with cocaine but knew the dangers of fentanyl and had previously turned down opportunities to take the drug. She doesn't believe her sister would knowingly take the powerful opioid, which has been linked to numerous overdose deaths across the country.
"Don't use it," Aatlanta warned others in an emotional plea. "You can see how many people it's killing. It's stupid for you to want to use it 鈥� something that's just killing people off, daily."
Winnipeg police say it could take weeks before results of tests on a white powder found in the house become available. Asham's family is now awaiting the results of an autopsy, which they hope will provide more answers about the young mother鈥檚 death.
"She may have messed up sometimes, but everyone messes up sometimes, and they don't deserve to be taken for such a little mess up," Aatlanta said.
The family told CTV Winnipeg that their focus is now on Aayla's two children, who are two and four-years-old, and trying to get the message out about the dangers of fentanyl, so other families don't have to go through the same thing as them.
"I miss her so much,鈥� Aatlanta said. 鈥淓veryone's going to miss her so much. She had such a kind soul and she always meant good.鈥�
With files from CTV Winnipeg
