COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Cobb County mother is working with police to find and arrest a drug dealer who sold heroin that killed her 20-year-old son. Missy Owen said her son, Davis Owen, bought the heroin from a drug dealer that he met at a restaurant on Cobb Parkway on March 3.
"They have him on video where he passed something to Davis at the table. And then he went out to the parking lot, shot the heroin and died," said Missy Owen.
The mother said the drug dealer showed up the next day and called 911 when he saw Davis slumped back in his car.
"He waited for them, the ambulance and police to show up, and when they did, he walked away scot-free," said Missy Owen.
Davis Owen, a former class president at Kennesaw Mountain High School, was an outstanding student and a business major at Kennesaw State University. His mother told Channel 2's Tom Regan her son became addicted to prescription medication, but she had no idea he was using heroin until he entered rehab in January.
"What heroin dealers are doing is sending people out to the suburbs. I've even heard they're giving kids their first bag free because it's only $10 and they know they're coming back," said Missy Owen.
The mother said her son was working hard to stay clean but relapsed several weeks after completing a residential rehabilitation program.
"He was what I call a 'closet addict.' He was not a social user," said Missy Owen.
Several days before his overdose Davis warned his older sister, a Georgia Tech biomedical engineering student, to stay away from drugs.
"He was trying hard. He knew he was an addict, but he was doing everything in his power to be released from this," said Chelsea Owen.
Davis Owens' mother said her son grew up doing community service work and had been working as a teacher assistant will pursuing his college degree.
"He was a person who made people smile, who made them laugh. Davis just had this magnetism about him. If you knew him, you loved him," said Owen.
His mother said she is establishing a foundation in memory of her son to raise awareness of the dangers of heroin, and to provide support to addicts and their families.
More information on the Davis Direction Foundation can be found at www.cobbfoundation.org/current-funds/.