Washington mother calls for changes to death certificates for people killed by ‘drug-related murder’

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – A Skagit County mother is pushing for changes in the way death certificates are issued after her son was poisoned with a fake painkiller.

She said the current system does not tell the full story and leaves out important information.

Trey Schweigert died after taking what he thought was Percocet following orthopedic surgery. The person who sold him the drug was later convicted of drug manslaughter.

Trey’s mother wants this to be noted on his death certificate, but the county coroner refuses.

Carol Schweigert regularly tends to a memorial tree that was planted for Trey, who died six years ago from accidentally ingesting fentanyl.

“You carry it with you your whole life,” she said. “It’s extremely painful to lose a child. It changes everything in your world.”

Now Trey’s death certificate fills Schweigert with sadness.

The cause of death is given as “acute intoxication” by fentanyl, the cause of death as “accident”.

There is a third box that Schweigert wants to change. It says “how the injury occurred.” This box also says “acute intoxication.”

Schweigert said she thought it should be “controlled substance murder” because the person who sold Trey the pill went to prison for it.

“Anyone who knowingly sells fentanyl is knowingly selling death,” said Schweigert.

But the Skagit County Coroner refuses to make that change.

In a letter to Schweigert, Hayley Thompson writes that the death must have been due to “a deliberate act causing death.”

KING 5 News reached out to the Skagit County Coroner for a statement. She declined comment.

Schweigert refers to guidelines from the US Department of Health, according to which intent is not required.

She said the change was out of respect for her son and the family who are still mourning his death.

“He was an amazing soul in this world. He deserves the respect that this is accurately recorded,” Schweigert said.

Schweigert believes that not explicitly pointing out that people were victims of murder is a disservice to the community as a whole.

“We don’t keep an accurate record of what happens, so the data that is provided to our communities is skewed,” Schweigert said. “When there is an overdose death, it’s about the disease of addiction. When there’s a homicide, there are different laws and different community responses.”

It is believed that Schweigert is the first in the area to call for such a change.

Schweigert said she would not stop fighting because her son and his memory deserved it.

“This is the final closure I’m looking for to try to find some peace on this planet before I die,” she said.