Three years after his sentencing, Josh Cook and his mom have lived through even more consequences of America’s drug crisis and the ways we respond to it – each in their own dramatic and completely separate ways.

The day of Josh Cook’s sentencing arrives. There’s a twist, then more surprises as attorneys and the judge debate what justice really looks like in this case.

As a judge weighs Josh Cook’s sentence, here’s how he ended up dealing drugs in that hotel bathroom in the first place. Then, Josh and his mom unexpectedly cross paths – a chance encounter that highlights the choices the justice system makes about people with addiction: punishment or treatment.

The origin story of death resulting laws dates back to the “War on Drugs” era and the shocking death of a 1980s basketball star. But the idea of charging overdose deaths as murders didn’t really take hold until the opioid epidemic.

An early morning drug deal between two friends ends in tragedy inside a hotel bathroom. One friend overdoses and dies. The other, Josh Cook, survives. The feds charge Josh with murder under the federal “death resulting” law, and he faces at least 20 years in prison. Does the punishment fit the crime?

In 2018, Josh Cook sold his friend some drugs. They shot up together. His friend overdosed and died. Some people see that as an accident. The government treated it as a homicide. So which is it? Our answer to that will shape how we address the deadliest overdose crisis in American history.