How the whole thing came about begins 15 to 20 years earlier, when Jackson became addicted to drugs and slowly grew apart from her family, who largely live in Trenton. Jackson eventually crossed the river and stayed in Philadelphia, sometimes living on the street.
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Minnie, who remembers last talking to her daughter July 1, accepted the woman's death as the by-product of her drug abuse and unmoored life, although recently she had begun to settle down.
When Jackson was using drugs, she would call at most twice a year, Minnie said.
But after she started getting her life together, her daughter would call every day.
On July 1, Jackson called her mother to say she could no longer afford her phone plan.
So when Minnie had not heard from her daughter in weeks, she was not alarmed.
