Behind closed doors, Sherell Lewis-Cole and her family have been struggling with consequences of drug addiction.
RELATED STORY: Mother accused of smoking meth next to baby
“There are two things you fear the most, death or jail. We thought, many of us thought we would get a phone call saying Ashley was no longer with us,” she said in an exclusive interview with 41 Action News.
This is the first time Lewis-Cole has spoken publicly about her cousin, Ashley Lewis.
In March, Lewis was featured in a Facebook post that went viral. It showed her allegedly smoking methamphetamine from a glass pipe right next to her 6-month-old baby girl. The caption under the photo read, “Please help my friend Ashley Lewis and I stop using meth. We can’t even stop with a baby around. We need help.”
“It was heartbreaking to see. The whole family was upset,” said Lewis-Cole.
When the picture went viral, police arrested Lewis. She was charged in two different counties with first degree endangering the welfare of a child, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.
Her two kids, a 10-month-old baby girl and 11-year-old boy, are now living with Lewis-Cole, who said her cousin constantly refused to get help for her opioid and meth addiction.
“To watch her deteriorate and not be with it, to not have a normal conversation. It was extremely hard to see that,” said Lewis-Cole. “I tried to help, I would be on the phone calling addiction centers, crying to the people on the other end.”
According to Suzanne Rutter, who specializes in family counseling and addiction, Lewis-Cole is not alone.
"These family members are under a lot of stress and they feel frightened and terrified for their loved one,” Rutter said. "The entire family system is impacted and without taking care of the entire family system, we are only taking care of one part of the problem.”
For the first time in a long time, Lewis-Cole said her cousin is sober and her kids are doing well.
"It’s not what I wanted, I would have preferred her getting help on her own. At least now she’s sober and I can have a conversation with my cousin again and there’s hope,” she said.
Over the last four months the family has struggled emotionally as well as financially, taking care of Lewis' two children.
Randie Smith has set up a GoFundMe page for her mother, Lewis-Cole, to help pay for expenses for the children. To help the family, click here.
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Ariel Rothfield can be reached at Ariel.Rothfield@KSHB.com.
