On the May 4 episode of Sister Wives, Janelle Brown opened up about the heartbreaking final year of her son Garrison Brown’s life, saying, “Something happened in this last year, and it just got him.”
The emotional episode marked the family’s first on-camera response to Garrison’s death, following the 25-year-old’s tragic passing on March 5, 2024. Janelle, 55, described her close connection with Garrison, saying they typically spoke several times a day. But the night before his death, something felt different.
“I was texting him all day long. That wasn’t unusual,” Janelle shared. “He kind of stopped texting me around 8:30 p.m. I knew he had been drinking again. He would go through these cycles.” 
Janelle reached out to her other sons, Logan and Hunter, asking them to check on their brother. “We’ve tag-teamed like this before,” she said. “They told me, ‘Mom, we’re on it.’”
But the next morning, Janelle received the call no parent ever wants. “Gabriel called me and said, ‘Mom, he’s gone.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ I couldn’t believe it.”
The Flagstaff Police confirmed that Garrison was found deceased at his home on March 5. He had reportedly been struggling with alcohol, something Janelle said began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He wasn’t a drinking kid,” she said. “He didn’t even like the taste of it. But something changed. I don’t know what happened. We offered him all the love, all the support, all the resources.”
Janelle admitted that Garrison had experienced similar nights in the past, where he would drink and go silent, only to reappear the next morning. “I don’t know what happened that night. But this time, he didn’t come back,” she said through tears.
Garrison’s death has shaken the Brown family, but also brought moments of healing. Meri Brown shared recently that the tragedy has helped some family members reconnect and support each other more deeply.
Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
