Carolyn Aviles won't call it an accident. A pickup hit her side of the car as she was pulling into the street from a parking lot. A mishap, she said. That's all. ...more

August 3, 2008

Joseph Valdez used narcotics for more than a decade before he died of an overdose in April 2007. He was 32. Here are selected dates from a timeline of his quest for drugs in the months before his death. ...more

August 3, 2008

Carolyn Aviles sums up her addicted son's fatal overdose this way: "I blame the doctors. I blame the system. I blame — I should blame him, but I don't. You can't blame a person that is out of control." ...more

August 1, 2008

Joseph Valdez used narcotics for more than a decade before he died of an overdose in April 2007. He was 32. Here is a timeline of his quest for drugs in the months before his death. ...more

August 1, 2008