Grand jury indicts SLU student for murder in synthetic LSD overdose case

[my3rdeye]

Wow this doesn't even mention nbomes at all. Damn sure wasn't LSD that left her brain dead

Grand jury indicts SLU student for murder in synthetic LSD overdose case .


Ashley Rodrigue / Eyewitness News
Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @ashleyrwwl

AMITE, La. - "There is a no-win situation here. Nothing brings Meghan back. And both of these children were young, and apparently curious and made a poor choice that day," said Dena Lopez. "However, everyone needs to be accountable for their role that day."

And a grand jury in Tangipahoa Parish agreed, indicting 22-year-old Cody Watts on a 2nd degree murder charge in the death of 21-year-old Meghan Lopez of Slidell.

Authorities say earlier this year, Watts and Lopez, both SLU students, took synthetic LSD provided by Watts.

But hours later, Lopez was declared brain-dead following seizures. Her parents made the difficult decision to take her off of life support.

Lopez's mother said her daughter shouldn't be the only one to pay the price.

“It's one thing to take the risk yourself, but if you are the person that brings the drug to the table, and consequently someone dies as a result of that drug, you can be held accountable," she said.

According to Louisiana state law, second-degree murder is committed when the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses a controlled dangerous substance listed in schedules I or II of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law that is the direct cause of the death of the recipient who ingested or consumed the controlled dangerous substance.

The district attorney in Tangipahoa Parish says bringing a criminal case in this situation is unusual, and it will also be a challenge.

"It’s a very tragic situation,” said Scott Perrilloux, “The factual basis is there, maybe to support a violation of the law, so we're gonna move forward at this point and see where it goes."

At the least, Lopez's mother hopes the situation resonates with other young adults.

Watts posted a $150,000 bond the same day he was arrested. Eyewitness News could not locate an attorney on record for Watts to contact for comment.

No court dates have been set at this time.

http://www.wwltv.com/news/northshore/murder-charge-232676731.html

 

[Clocktower]

Yet another tragic NBOMe death? Seems like there's a new one every week these days.

 

[Ego Death]

Research Chemicals are no fucking joke, it is very strong medicine. Approach them with ignorance and it will grab you by the throat before you know what's going on.

 

[23536]

Murder 2 is complete overkill here, so long as the defendant didn't intentionally misrepresent the substance?

Are NBOMes Schedule I in Latvia?

 

[Morphling]

'Synthetic' LSD? Like LSD isn't synthetic enough? I cannot with the media re: drugs.

I really miss the days when you either got bunk shit or good shit, no shit in between to kill you!

 

[23536]

'Synthetic' LSD? Like LSD isn't synthetic enough? I cannot with the media re: drugs.

Give up the semantic fight, or you'll go insane. Even knowledgeable posters on this forum use the unfortunate term "organic LSD". I've abandoned all hope of educating the masses.

 

[neversickanymore]

In other news remington and smith and wesson are worried about getting charged with accomplice to murder charges... Im sorry this happened. but if your going to do drugs you sure as shit better know what they are and accept the consequences. Wow lets try and put another person in jail and ruin their life to try and do what for this dead girl?.. why dont you legalize LSD and spend the money you are going to spend in the trial and whatever will be done to this kid and use it to make a strong dont fucking take NBPOMe campaign.

"Lopez's mother said her daughter shouldn't be the only one to pay the price." Im sorry this happened to your daughter, but the truth is that your daughter took a sketchy drug and died and making someone else pay the price is selfish and kinda passing the buck and responsibility to someone else and from your daughter where it belongs.

 

[TheRapperGoneBad]

Lopez's mother said her daughter shouldn't be the only one to pay the price.

Your daughter lost her life due to her risk taking behavior and lack of proper research into the chemicals she was consuming.
As sad and unfortunate it is does this young man really deserve to rot in a prison cell for murder?

Yet another tragic completely avoidable death if there were regulations/quality control of said drugs and a class or two to show drugs aren't just evil this type of stuff wouldn't happen.

Give up the semantic fight, or you'll go insane. Even knowledgeable posters on this forum use the unfortunate term "organic LSD". I've abandoned all hope of educating the masses.

+1

 

[bukweat]

Louisiana is the worlds prison capitol. Louisiana incarcerates more of it's citizens that any other state. Five times more than Iran, Thirteen times more than China, and twenty times more than Germany.
The state legislature has guaranteed the for profit prison system a 96% occupancy rate. If you build it, they will come
****On Nov 15, 2013, the DEA added 25I-, 25C-, and 25B-NBOMe to Schedule I using their emergency scheduling powers, making those NBOMe .
From the dea's lip to your ears.

 

[tweex]

But hours later, Lopez was declared brain-dead following seizures. Her parents made the difficult decision to take her off of life support.

Wait, what? Unless she suffered seizures leading to respiratory arrest with no CPR before being admitted to the hospital, I'm going to say she was likely mistakenly called. Proper treatment in a poisoning case like that is drug induced coma until the acute phase is over, then ween sedation and re-assess for neurological functioning after. If they called her brain dead and she hadn't suffered any prolonged cardiopulmonary arrest yet, I'm going to say her doctors fucked up big time. Brain death is such a misapplied standard. It is perfectly scientifically valid, but so many people get called by pressuring the family to "come to terms with reality" who could have easily come back.

The district attorney in Tangipahoa Parish says bringing a criminal case in this situation is unusual, and it will also be a challenge.

I was thinking this case would end in acquittal, but given the facts of the case I believe the defendant is indeed guilty Under LSA-R.S. 14:30.1:

(3) When the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses a controlled dangerous substance listed in Schedules I through V of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law*, or any combination thereof, which is the direct cause of the death of the recipient who ingested or consumed the controlled dangerous substance.

(4) When the offender unlawfully distributes or dispenses a controlled dangerous substance listed in Schedules I through V of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law*, or any combination thereof, to another who subsequently distributes or dispenses such controlled dangerous substance which is the direct cause of the death of the person who ingested or consumed the controlled dangerous substance.

B. Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder shall be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

Now, that law looks ripe appealing a conviction under. I wouldn't be too surprised if this case ends up plea bargaining out to a lesser charge to avoid a probable successful challenge to the statute. Regardless, Louisiana has some fucked up definitions of murder. 8)

 

[23536]

I apologize to the people of Latvia for mistaking Louisiana for their glorious country.

Why is Louisiana abbreviated La?

 

[MisterJohnson]

^ In the States, we just pick two letters from the state's name to make the abbreviation.

I live a few minutes' walk from where the girl dosed. Man, it's wild. I don't post often here, but I've cooked food for and made small-talk with both of these kids, so this quite literally hits close to home.

Knowing the hospital she went to, they didn't know what to do in response to this and fucked up, but will not be held accountable. Knowing how vengeful parents around here can be, the mother would probably prefer this kid get the needle. The DA is a smart guy, but he's also elected. I would hope he would know better than to set a dangerous precedent here.

You wouldn't believe the hatred people can have. There was a kid I knew around here, and a few years back, he got plastered and decided to drive home, and ran over three of his friends. Now of course that was monstrously stupid, and he deserved a stint in the pokey, but the local paper's editorial section had a lot of people who were even recently screaming for this kid's head, and he killed his friends five, six years ago now? People who never knew any of the people involved. Most people around here love their fun and bon temps and all, but you fuck up and they can EAT YOU.

 

[neversickanymore]

Hey MrJ.. im sorry for your community and the event that has torn it up

 

[tweex]

Knowing how vengeful parents around here can be, the mother would probably prefer this kid get the needle. The DA is a smart guy, but he's also elected. I would hope he would know better than to set a dangerous precedent here.

Second degree murder doesn't carry the death penalty in LA (or anywhere?) and usually doesn't carry life in prison (LA being an exception). I'd actually love to see this case go through and end up in the supreme court, it would probably end up being overturned and invalidating all the "murder for distributing drugs" statutes.

That, and I'd love to see a case on window tint legal in a car's registered state being ticketed in another. I'm actually just waiting to get a tint ticket before taking it on as my own personal test case.

Well, that and a bunch of other silly laws I'd love to see overturned. But I won't go to jail for illegal tint.

 

[Roger&Me]

"synthetic lsd" is the dumbest shit i've ever heard. lsd is itself a synthetic drug

it would be more correct to say "a compound that mimics the effects of lsd", but even that is iffy. every drug is totally unique, although there are trends within classes

 

[my3rdeye]

Give up the semantic fight, or you'll go insane. Even knowledgeable posters on this forum use the unfortunate term "organic LSD". I've abandoned all hope of educating the masses.

I try to leave the headlines as is to try and piss you guys off into writing angry comments in articles comments section. You would get laughed at in PD if you called it organic LSD at least. I feel bad even telling my life real friends who describe fun nbome experiences that it wasn't LSD because it burned their tongue. This battle against fake LSD is bad, even people who know the "MDMA" pills are mostly fake gobble fake acid with no clue.

 

[missmeyet?]

In other news remington and smith and wesson are worried about getting charged with accomplice to murder charges... Im sorry this happened. but if your going to do drugs you sure as shit better know what they are and accept the consequences. Wow lets try and put another person in jail and ruin their life to try and do what for this dead girl?.. why dont you legalize LSD and spend the money you are going to spend in the trial and whatever will be done to this kid and use it to make a strong dont fucking take NBPOMe campaign.

"Lopez's mother said her daughter shouldn't be the only one to pay the price." Im sorry this happened to your daughter, but the truth is that your daughter took a sketchy drug and died and making someone else pay the price is selfish and kinda passing the buck and responsibility to someone else and from your daughter where it belongs.

Not only that, she well into being an adult...not like we are talking about a 13 year old here. When will people be responsible for their own actions?

 

[23536]

That, and I'd love to see a case on window tint legal in a car's registered state being ticketed in another. I'm actually just waiting to get a tint ticket before taking it on as my own personal test case.

Well, that and a bunch of other silly laws I'd love to see overturned. But I won't go to jail for illegal tint.

Tints are dangerous. Pedestrians need to be able to see drivers' eyes.

When I'm running and crossing a street, I usually yield to drivers, and some ultra-polite drivers stop their cars and motion for me to go, but I can't fucking see them because the tint + glare makes their windows opaque. Drivers are often oblivious to how invisible they are. But I know a lot of runners who usually assume that drivers will yield to them, and some of them have gotten bulldozed or near-missed, and I blame tints. Without the tint there, the pedestrian can observe the driver's behavior.

Hell, cars shouldn't even have windows. And they should weigh under 500 kg. And have top speeds of 50 kph. And shut off for a week when the driver forgets to use the blinker.

 

[MisterJohnson]

Second degree murder doesn't carry the death penalty in LA (or anywhere?) and usually doesn't carry life in prison

"Statutes be damned! I'll push the plunger down myself if the state is too pussified" would not be an uncommon sentiment. I'm just glad the kid who dosed her isn't black. DEAR GOD then he'd be fucked. Now, don't get me wrong, in general people around here are sweet as peaches, no more violent than anywhere else. This ain't New Orleans or Baton Rouge; geographically close to both but culturally worlds away. There's just a disproportionate sense of justice; you take one eye, we get BOTH of yours. We want so bad for revenge to mean justice, for retribution to actually make things right again.

Hey MrJ.. im sorry for your community and the event that has torn it up

Thanks, neversick. The girl was from a city about forty-five minutes east of here, near the MS state line. She was just going to school here, and the university has a great PR machine, so there's not a whole lot of hubbub in Hammond. Every time there's a scandal here of any kind, it gets hush-hushed to hell. There was an NCAA investigation into the school a few months back over athletes' grades being falsified so they could play, but you wouldn't have known if you weren't paying close attention. They know damage control.

 

[MagickalKat777]

Louisiana is a horrible place... I have been unfortunate enough to spend 3 years of my life there. Corruption everywhere you look, ridiculously high taxes with no real reason behind them, they are the highest gun crime state in the nation, they have the highest prison population per capita in the nation, they are one of the poorest states in the country despite their oil interests, and they have draconian drug laws like this.

The irony is that you can go to your local gas station or Walmart and buy as much alcohol as you want. 8)