Local life lost to opioids leaves an impact; relative of Morales seeks changes

Jake Morales with his half-sister, Aubrey Palguta, are seen at a Bradshaw Mountain High School football game at Bob Pavlich Field in Prescott Valley. Morales played for the Bears as a senior in 2016. (Aubrey Palguta/Courtesy)

Jake Morales with his half-sister, Aubrey Palguta, are seen at a Bradshaw Mountain High School football game at Bob Pavlich Field in Prescott Valley. Morales played for the Bears as a senior in 2016. (Aubrey Palguta/Courtesy)

Jake Morales would have turned 21 in 2020 if it weren’t for Fentanyl.

Aubrey Palguta, Morales’ 32-year-old half-sister, and her husband, Prescott Valley Mayor Kell Palguta, try not to dwell on Jake’s death from the potent opioid in November 2018.

Rather, they remember Morales for his broad smile, giving nature and friendly, easygoing personality. The Palgutas keep a table at their home filled with mementos dedicated to Morales.

But these well-meaning gestures don’t mean that they aren’t still angry over the incident.

Morales and his friend, Gunner Bundrick, who died at Bundrick’s home in Prescott Valley, didn’t know that the pills they had taken were laced with Fentanyl — a synthetic opioid similar to morphine, albeit 50 to 100 times stronger.

“This wasn’t a history they had with this [opioids],” Aubrey said on Jan. 27 of Jake and Gunner. “They made a bad decision on a Friday night.”

In 2018, the State of Arizona reported 898 fatalities from opioid overdoses. Seventy percent of those deaths involved fentanyl, which is typically used to treat patients with severe pain, particularly after surgery.

“Jake was an amazing uncle to my children and his death devastated our family and shocked our community,” Mayor Palguta posted on Facebook Jan. 20, two days before Arizona’s House of Representatives voted on whether to send House Bill 2036, a bill designed to implement mandatory sentencing for opioid dealers, to committee.

“Jake’s death was not the only death in Prescott Valley in 2018 associated with fentanyl, and [the drug] still continues to affect families throughout Yavapai County.”

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Kell Palguta shares a treat with Jake Morales, who was his wife Aubrey’s half-brother. (Aubrey Palguta/Courtesy)

As of Feb. 3, the bill had been pulled from committee to make revisions to it before being presented to lawmakers again.

On Jan. 22, Legislative District 1 Reps. Steve Pierce and Noel Campbell, and Senate President Karen Fann, sent H.B. 2036 to committee for a vote. The bill establishes a system for punishing opioid pushers, who could go to prison for five, 10 or 15 years depending on the nature of their violations.

Mayor Palguta said in late January that Pierce told him he is “cautiously optimistic” that the bill will eventually reach the House floor for a full vote. If approved in the House, the Arizona Senate would vote on whether to make it state law.

“We need to rehab the users and punish the dealers,” Mayor Palguta said. “… You know a dealer when you see a dealer. There’s only so much you can do. We need to help people in prison, too; give them education and opportunities to better themselves. Otherwise, it’s the definition of insanity.”

EVERYDAY PROBLEM

Morales moved from California to Prescott Valley with his family when he was 6 years old. Aubrey followed, from Orange County, in 2010.

Her message to those who consider using opioids recreationally?

“Don’t do it — don’t accept something [a drug] from someone who isn’t a doctor or a parent,” Aubrey said. “You just don’t know what you’re taking. When I was younger, we didn’t have that issue.”

There remains an insidiousness about opioid abuse. Mayor Palguta analogizes it to America’s mass-shooting epidemic — society can’t afford to forget about the problem, even for a minute.

“What can we do to fix this?” Palguta asked poignantly. “We need to change our mentality. It’s important to keep the dialogue going.”

People die every day from opioid abuse. Since June 15, 2017, the Arizona Department of Health Services, at Gov. Doug Ducey’s direction, has been reporting opioid-related deaths. Through Jan. 23, 2020, the department had verified 299 such fatalities, including 27 from fentanyl.

“There’s no way to know how much [harmful stuff] is in the pills,” Aubrey said. “… It only takes one bad pill and your life is over.”

MAYOR’S LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERIENCE

Mayor Palguta was a Prescott Valley police officer for some 17 years until he retired for medical reasons. For part of his tenure, he served as an undercover narcotics officer for Partners Against Narcotics Trafficking (PANT) and the Prescott Valley Police Department.

The mayor says drug dealers have a choice: Clean up their lives, sever their bad ties and start leading meaningful lives, or face consequences from the law.

Kell and Aubrey Palguta believe in rehabilitating drug addicts. However, they also believe in implementing a “multipronged attack” on opioids that involves ramping up incarceration and probation, primarily for opioid dealers, to protect Arizona’s cities and towns.

“People who sell [opioids] are not good people,” Kell added.

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Jake Morales with his young nephew, who is the son of Kell and Aubrey Palguta from Prescott Valley. (Aubrey Palguta/Courtesy)

Aubrey said she has encouraged local students to raise awareness about the dangers of opioids. Jake Morales’ parents established an annual scholarship in their son’s name at Bradshaw Mountain High School in Prescott Valley, where Jake and Gunner graduated in 2017.

“We want to keep his name going and tell his story as much as we can,” Aubrey added. “… I’m glad their story got blown up [in the media]; to make a point. [The danger is that] it’s remembered, then nothing happens.”

KEEP ON MOVING

Aubrey deals with Jake’s death by attending GriefShare group counseling sessions at her and Kell’s church in Prescott Valley. She also has two siblings with whom she can share her feelings.

“This loss for my parents is so overwhelming; it didn’t feel appropriate talking to them,” Aubrey said.

She views Jake’s death “like a hole in you.” Aubrey wears a necklace with a silver heart pendant, which holds some of Jake’s ashes and has the words “My brother” inscribed on it.

Aubrey is a stay-at-home mom to three young children. She trains her mind on tending to their needs, although she does her best to support people grieving for deceased loved ones.

“It doesn’t get smaller or fade away, but life gets bigger,” Aubrey said of Jake’s death. “Build your life around that pain. … I have to live my best for him. That’s what I am trying to do.”

Doug Cook is a reporter for The Daily Courier. Follow him on Twitter at @dougout_dc. Email him at dcook@prescottaz.com or call 928-445-3333, ext. 2039.

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Jake Morales holds his young niece, who is the daughter of Kell and Aubrey Palguta from Prescott Valley. (Aubrey Palguta/Courtesy)


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