'NCIS' Season 18: What Was the 'When I Die' Poem? On 3/10/21 at 6:00 AM EST NCIS has never been afraid of killing off its characters, from the shocking death of agent Caitlin Todd (played by Sasha Alexander) in Season 2 to the sudden departure of Jimmy's wife Breena (Michelle Pierce) from COVD earlier in Season 18. However, this did not prepare fans for Episode 9 (titled "Winter Chill") to reveal that Emily Fornell (Juliette Angelo) had died of an overdose after fighting years of addiction. With the death coming as a shock to many viewers of the CBS procedural, they found themselves moved by the elegy read by Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) towards the close of the episode. Many then took to Google to find out whether the poem, which began, "When I die/Give what's left of me away," was real.