‘Sister Wives’: Janelle Brown Details Late Son Garrison’s Final Hours

Janelle Brown is opening up about the final moments she shared with her and ex Kody Brown’s late son, Garrison Brown.

On Sunday’s episode of Sister Wives, the TLC star said the day before Garrison died by suicide at the age of 25 on March 5, 2024, felt completely normal.

Janelle recalled texting her son “all day long” while traveling back to Flagstaff, Ariz., after relocating to North Carolina. “I knew he was struggling. I always just picked up the phone and I always make it a point to just talk to him. And it wasn’t really about anything,” she recalled. “I think he needed the connection, and I know he was talking to [and] calling his brothers and stuff too.”

Janelle, who is also mom to Maddie Brown Brush, Logan Brown, Hunter Brown, Gabriel Brown and Savanah Brown with Kody, said she wasn’t even particularly concerned when Garrison stopped responding to her messages.

“I knew he’d been drinking again. He would go through periods where he was really good, and then he just would have a binge, just as part of the cycle, I think,” she explained. “So I called Logan and Hunter. I texted them … because we’ve tag-teamed. I said, ‘Will you guys see if Garrison will respond to you?’ They said, ‘Mom, we’re on it. We’ll just kind of check on him and make sure he’s OK.’”

Assured that her son was in good hands, Janelle went to bed, only to be awoken with horrifying news. “Gabriel had found him,” Janelle said of Garrison. “He’s like, ‘Mom, he’s gone.’ I mean, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘He’s dead. He killed himself.’”

“I don’t remember the next few minutes,” Janelle continued, “but I got in the car and drove.”

Janelle noted that before Garrison passed, he “really struggled with alcohol.” She explained, “I don’t know what happened. He was never a drinking kid. He didn’t like it, didn’t like the taste of it. He started to drink during COVID. Something happened in this last year, and it really just got him.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Robert Brown (@robertthebrown)

Janelle said she and the rest of the family “had offered him all the love, all the support, all the help, all the resources,” but he continued to struggle with drinking as well as anxiety and depression.

“We knew he was in a bad place,” Janelle said during Sunday’s episode. “We were doing everything we could for him, but he just, he just couldn’t get on top of it.”

She continued, “I don’t know what happened that night he did that because he’s had other nights like this where he would drink and then pass out, and he would go kind of radio silent, but he’d be back in the morning. I don’t know. I don’t know what happened this time.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline​. The previous Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse or addiction, please call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). SAMHSA’s National Helpline is free, confidential and available 24/7.