Anthony Sanders’ story

1986: Born on Feb. 12. His parents would divorce when he was 10.

2000: Anthony gets hooked on pain medication after his wisdom teeth are pulled. During high school, he would experiment with marijuana, alcohol, Vicodin, Percocet and many other prescription medications.

2002: On New Year’s Eve, Sanders, 16, crashes his car into mailboxes in Warren at the corner of Esther and Copeland avenues after a night of drugs and alcohol. He’s charged but not jailed. He refers to that night as “the night he should have died.”

2005: Graduates from high school in Champion.

2005: Ships out for Reserves boot camp.

2006: Returns home from military in January. He is aimless. “Didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with myself.”

2007: Son Michael Sanders is born on Jan. 26.

2008: Anthony tries heroin for first time. “I fell to my knees. I never felt so great in my life. So I thought.”

2009: Ex-girlfriend calls Sanders early one February morning. Sanders said she told him, “Your son and I need you.” Sanders hadn’t seen his son for nine months.

2009: Sanders shoots $60 of heroin into his arm in February, walks to the Warren police station and turns himself in on four warrants. When he is released, his ex-girlfriend and son meet him at his mother’s house. This would be the last time he sees his child.

2009: Heroin use couples with morphine in March. He is now a “full-blown, flat-out junkie.”

2009: Enrolls in Ohio Valley Teen Challenge on Oct. 16.

2009: Drops out of OVTC on Nov. 13.

2009: On Dec. 8, Sanders phones OVTC. His addiction is worse than ever. He crawls back into the program.

2010: “My prayers have been answered.” Sanders’ mother brings his son Michael to OVTC for a Saturday visitation. Sanders holds his son for the first time in more than a year.

Anthony Sanders’ arrest record includes two domestic violence charges in Champion and four miscellaneous charges in Warren, including: theft, misuse of a credit card and two counts of receiving stolen property.