CENTREVILLE, Va. - In an unprecedented move, the victims and perpetrators of a Northern Virginia heroin ring are coming together to get the word out about the real dangers of the drug in suburbia.

The heroin ring claimed four lives and resulted in sixteen convictions. Monday night, the victims and some of perpetrators will speak at Westfield High School, in Centreville. They want to tell students about the dangers of heroin, and inform parents of the warning signs for abuse.

"It is so painful that we cannot -- we don't want -- another parent to have to feel what we felt that day," said Greg Lannes.

His daughter, 19-year-old Alecia Lannes, overdosed and died in her Centreville bedroom a year and a half ago. Taylor Gibson provided the drugs which led to Lannes' overdose.

"When it started out it was with my boyfriend, he was the dealer. He went to jail so I sort of had to fend for myself, so I started to deal," Gibson said.

"It's ruined my life," she said. "I dropped out of school. I lost my job. I lost my friends. I virtually lost everything."

Gibson and Greg Lannes will speak Monday night to students and parents at Westfield High School.

They will be joined by Greg Richter, whose daughter is also a victim of heroin. Anna Richter became an addict and did time in prison for dealing.

"By speaking out and being upfront about what we went through, hopefully someone else won't have to go through that," Greg Richter said.

The three have a simple message for parents: geography will not save you.

"The risk is everywhere," Richter said. "This is not the inner city. There is nothing good about [heroin] and really the end result is death."

The pain the drug inflicted on these three people is bringing them together in hopes of preventing others from suffering the same kind of pain they must live with.

"There has been a significant drop in overdose deaths in Fairfax County (web | news) ," Lannes said. "That is why we are doing it. That is what warms our heart."

Monday night's talk is the first of what will become a series of events at Northern Virginia high schools aimed at spreading the word on the danger of heroin and other drugs.

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