A Batchewana First Nation woman who died from a fatal drug poisoning is being remembered as a loving young mother who was trying to help others overcome their own addiction struggles.
Dakota Robinson was 23 at the time of her March 1, 2024 death, which occurred at home on the Rankin Reserve near Sault Ste. Marie. Roughly a year after she died, Sault Ste. Marie OPP charged two individuals with manslaughter, among other charges, for her unlawful death by overdose.
"I just wish she would have taken a different path with the people she hung out with. She had some really good friends that really stuck by her when she needed them," said Vicki Robinson about her daughter's death.
Although police departments and some other agencies use the term overdose, many advocates say the word does not accurately reflect drug poisonings.
Robinson was not with Dakota at the time of her death, but believes her daughter was intending to use only cocaine on the night she was killed and suspects it was laced with a fatal dose of fentanyl without her knowledge.
"The morning she died, she had an interview at another job that she really wanted. That's why I can't imagine she was heavy into anything that would affect that. She was so excited," Vicki said.
Vicki hopes speaking candidly about her daughter's death will help others be more cautious when using all kinds of drugs and spark difficult conversations between parents and their children about the dangers associated with drug use.
"She didn't sign up for what happened," she said.
The toxicology report conducted after Dakota's death showed she had cocaine and fentanyl in her system — a combination that proved fatal.
Vicki and her husband Gilles were babysitting Dakota's young daughter on the night she died. Now the couple are raising their six-year-old granddaughter after the loss of their only child.
"For the longest time, we didn't know how to tell her what happened. I don't think at six any kids should know what an overdose is. It's sad," said Vicki.
Vicki said Dakota was a loving mother with a strong bond with her young daughter.
"But now she doesn't get to watch her ride her bike without her training wheels. She's not going to get to watch her drive. She's not going to get to see her graduate or anything.
"Even if you're in jail, you still get to hear about your kids doing all these things. She doesn't. She gets nothing and her daughter misses out on having her mom being there for everything she's doing," said Vicki.
Vicki acknowledges that her daughter struggled with substance use, but Dakota had also sought treatment for it and was working toward helping others who are facing similar challenges.
"That was her biggest thing when she got clean, she said, 'I'm going to school and I want to be a social worker,' — and she did," Vicki said.
Dakota received a job placement at the Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres clinic on Queen Street, where years earlier she had received methadone treatment while overcoming her own addiction.
Among the possessions Dakota left behind was a thank you letter sent to her from one of the clients at the OATC, who was expressing her sadness that the placement was coming to an end.
"Please know you did make someone here feel wanted and took time out of your day just so I could let off some anger and by doing just that alone make me feel so much better," the client said to Dakota in the letter.
Dakota and Vicki had a strong bond that included doing regular mother-daughter activities, like watching their favourite television shows together. Vicki said she suspected Dakota was using drugs at various times based on signs she noticed, as well as the friends her daughter was keeping.
"When people ask me, 'what would you do different now raising your granddaughter?' I say, 'I don't think we did anything wrong the first time.' Like, I really don't. We were strict but not mean all the time. She had rules she had to follow," Vicki said.
That included some tough love when Dakota was told she can't come home when she was seeking treatment for her addiction.
"It broke my heart to not let her back home, but I thought, 'You know what? This is what we have to do.'
Dakota also volunteered her time with Save Our Young Adults from Drug Abuse, a street-level non-profit that assists people living with addiction.
Founder Connie Raynor-Elliott said Dakota was one of her 'SOYA warriors' and was compassionate, educated and very determined.
Raynor-Elliott said Dakota sought help from SOYA when she was living with addiction, and then volunteered her time to help others when she was clean.
"She wanted to prove to the world that there's life after addiction," said Raynor-Elliott.
"She would sit down with people and talk to them and give them hope," she said.
"Especially when it comes to the younger people that have substance use disorder, they don't want to talk to someone like me. They want to talk to someone around their own age."
SOYA has a very limited supply of drug testing kits after a number of them were damaged when a pipe burst in the organization's former location. Raynor-Elliott said she has been unable to source more of the potentially life-saving testing strips.
Vicki said one challenge Dakota faced when she was looking to get sober was the lack of treatment options available in the community. After her daughter completed detox in Sault Ste. Marie, Vicki said the only available options at the time for drug treatment were hours away in communities like Sudbury and North Bay and all of them had waiting lists.
"I really think they should have more places where these kids can go. When Dakota wanted to get sober, you're waiting six months or you're waiting a year. So then what do they do? They turn around and then they get right back into it," she said.