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14 Year Old O/D's on "Ecstasy" (Minor updates 3/23/05)

Girl's Ecstasy Death Scares Community

Posted: April 29, 2004 at 7:04 p.m.

BELMONT (BCN) -- An autopsy is under way Thursday on a 14-year-old Belmont girl who died this week after an apparent ecstasy overdose at a friend's sleepover on Saturday.

Irma Perez, an eighth-grader at Ralston Middle School in Belmont, was removed from life support at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at 7:25 p.m. on Wednesday, authorities said.

Students at her Belmont school mourned their classmate's death Thursday morning with counselors and chaplains available on campus, while prosecutors mulled additional charges against the man suspected of providing the pills.

The three girls, all 14, were at a home in the 2500 block of Lincoln Avenue when a parent in the home was awakened and called 911 around 7:15 a.m. Saturday, according to Belmont police Sgt. Patrick Halleran.

Perez was unconscious by then.

The girls had taken one pill each but only Perez suffered the fatal reaction, police said.

Over the weekend, investigators arrested Antonio Rivera, 20, of Belmont, as well as a 17-year-old boy suspected of supplying the drugs.

Rivera was arraigned Tuesday in San Mateo County Superior Court on seven felony charges related to possession of ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana and furnishing narcotics to a minor, according to San Mateo County District Attorney spokesman Steve Wagstaffe.

It remains unknown whether new charges will be filed in light of the girl's death.

Over the last several days, parents of Ralston students have been calling the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District to express shock and fear, district officials said.

"A lot of them don't know that this occurs," said Superintendent John McIntosh. "There are parents calling very scared now that this could happen to their son or daughter."

McIntosh described Perez as a warm-hearted girl with a fondness for science, who participated in few school activities but was "tight with a small group of friends."

They and others wept in and outside the classrooms Thursday morning, he said.

Link
 
no way she overdosed on one pill. there was something else in that pill or she drank too much/too little. or she was using something else at the time.

either way, 8th grade? bit too soon if you ask me
 
Well atleast the deallers learnt their lessons, sell drugs to little kids and your going to get BUSTED.
 
2 friends face charges in girl's ecstasy death

Saturday, May 1, 2004

Two 14-year-old Belmont girls who attended a sleepover with a classmate the night she took a fatal dose of the drug ecstasy will be charged with child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

The two girls, whom authorities in San Mateo County would not name because of their age, were taken into custody without incident at their homes Friday morning and booked into Hillcrest Juvenile Hall. They are expected to be arraigned next week.

"Since they are juveniles, our office will have no comment on the case,'' said San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe.

The arrests capped a week of developments in the shocking death of Irma Perez, also 14.

The Ralston Middle School eighth-grader was taken to the hospital last Saturday morning after parents hosting a sleepover at a house on Lincoln Avenue discovered her unconscious.

The following day, police arrested 20-year-old Antonio Rivera Jr. and a 17-year-old boy on charges of furnishing a controlled substance to a minor.

Irma, who was declared brain dead on Sunday morning, remained at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto until her family allowed doctors to remove her from life support machines on Wednesday night. Her body was used to harvest organs for transplant patients.

Irma's death has stunned the community of Belmont, where parents have wondered how an eighth-grader could be exposed to ecstasy.

Irma moved to Belmont last year to live with a relative after the death of her mother. Her younger sister is a sixth-grader at Ralston. Irma was described as a quiet girl who socialized with a tight-knit group of friends.

On Thursday, as news of Irma's death spread, many students wrote "R.I.P." on their arms in her memory.

The parents who live in the house where Irma ingested the drug declined repeated requests for an interview this week. Neighbors said one of the girls arrested lives at the house.

Amy and Frank Figoni, who live a few doors away, said they stopped letting their 12-year-old daughter visit the house because the girls who socialized there seemed too old for their ages.

"I felt their behavior was a little more adult than it should be for 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds," said Amy Figoni. "You just don't think that this could happen at a junior high school in Belmont. It's a safe town. I never would have thought about this."

"It's a sad situation, but I'm glad we didn't let our kids play with them,'' said Frank Figoni. "This could have been our daughter."

It will be at least two weeks before investigators with the San Mateo County Coroner's Office can determine exactly how Irma died or how much of the drug she took. The two girls arrested Friday, who were her classmates, also took ecstasy, according to police, but suffered no immediate ill effects.

Prosecutors have suggested that Rivera and the 17-year-old could face involuntary manslaughter charges, but no decision has yet been made.

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is a club drug popular for its euphoric effects. It can affect users to varying degrees depending on a person's metabolism.

The Belmont-Redwood Shores School District has scheduled a drug awareness meeting for parents and students on May 19 at Carlmont High School.

Lincoln Avenue resident Lois Mofton said she has done her best to warn her children.

"There's still no guarantee,'' she said. "You can do everything, but your kids will still do what they want. You just educate them and you cross your fingers.''

Link
 
In the course of the investigation into the overdose, police say they have uncovered an array of other drugs, including rock cocaine, powder cocaine and marijuana.
Click to expand...

Taken from the first post.
 
Two 14-year-old Belmont girls who attended a sleepover with a classmate the night she took a fatal dose of the drug ecstasy will be charged with child endangerment...
Click to expand...

They're going to charge 14 year olds with child endangerment?!?!?! They are children themselves!!!!
 
Sounds like they're getting off kind of easy, relative to the whole situation there.
 
I didn't know there was a charge for rolling with friends of the same age or any age for that matter 8(
 
It will be at least two weeks before investigators with the San Mateo County Coroner's Office can determine exactly how Irma died or how much of the drug she took.
Click to expand...

Am I missing something here?? Why didn't they do a toxicology report on her blood or urine when they brought her into the hospital?? If there was any cocaine or alcohol or something else in her system its been metabolized by now.
 
Ecstasy victim mourned

Sat May 01/2004

R.I.P. — remember Irma Perez.

That’s what one student at Ralston Middle School in Belmont drew on her hand yesterday as teachers and classmates grieved the death of the 14-year-old girl who died of an Ecstasy overdose at a slumber party.

Still shell-shocked by the news, teachers and classmates expressed disbelief that Perez— or anyone at the school — would have access to such a hard drug. Others said it’s time people wake up to what’s going on in junior high these days.

Parent Karen Van Zant, whose daughter was friends with Perez, said unfortunately, Ecstasy use by middle schoolers isn’t that surprising.

“It’s a different world [for these kids],” Van Zant said.

In fact, a student at Ralston Middle School said that one of the three girls who took Ecstasy at the slumber party this weekend was expelled for smoking on campus last year.

“She was smoking and handing some stuff out,” said the student, who is close friends with Perez’s younger sister.

The tragic sequence of events first made headlines when an unconscious Perez was taken to a hospital early Saturday after taking the Ecstasy. After remaining in a comatose state for five days, Perez’s family decided to take her off life support Wednesday night.

Students say the third girl at the slumber party — also a student at Ralston Middle School — hasn’t returned to class yet. School officials are not commenting on the status of either of the two girls who were also at the slumber party.

Jon McIntosh, superintendent of the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District, said the drug abuse incident is out of the ordinary and that narcotics aren’t a problem at Ralston Middle School.

“Of course, you have drugs in any community,” McIntosh said. “But fortunately this was very unusual [at Ralston].”

Last year, McIntosh said there were just a few incidents where students were caught with marijuana on campus. There has never been a case with any drug other than marijuana, he said.

“But that’s on the campus,” McIntosh said. “We have no idea what goes on outside.”

Principal Debbie Ferguson said she never thought Ecstasy was a drug that middle schoolers were acquainted with. Kids openly admit that marijuana is easy to obtain, but Ferguson said it never crossed her mind that a 14-year-old would have access to anything harder than that.

Belmont Mayor George Metropulos, who now teaches at Central Elementary School, said he doesn’t remember drugs being a problem when he taught at Ralston about 10 years ago. The worst he can recall is catching students smoking.

“Now it’s escalating way beyond that,” he said.

Students were just as floored by the news that Perez took Ecstasy.

“[Perez] doesn’t do that kind of stuff,” said sixth-grader Sunny Marx, who knew Perez and was friends with her younger sister. “Nobody at Ralston does.”

Seventh-grader Adam Amaral said Ralston is a “good school” and that “this is the biggest thing that’s happened here.”

Meanwhile, chaplains, counselors and faculty are trying to help the nearly 850 students at the middle school cope with the loss. Hundreds of students came together in the quad to sign posters and draw a likeness of Perez; others wrote poems and letters.

“They’re beginning to reflect on how real this is,” McIntosh said.

The most difficult aspect of the death is explaining to students the difference between being brain dead and officially declared deceased, Principal Debbie Ferguson said.

“Kids struggle with that,” she said.

A memorial will be held at the school 7 p.m. May 3.

On May 19, the district will hold a fair on drug abuse at Carlmont High School. A similar event was held three weeks ago and attended by about 50 parents. McIntosh said he expects hundreds to turn out for the next one.

Link
 
Witnesses report they saw a bearded man wearing a cloak running
from the scene, apparently bearing a striking resemblance to Darwin.

Sad, but true. Get ready for the ish to fly because of one stupid person's mistake. I hope she had fun before dying.:(
 
You will never see them post any reports about what other drugs were in her system, god damn. They might as well be lying.
 
The real story

Listen up! Here is the truth of what happened:

Calin, the 17 year old boy who sold the drugs to the 14 year olds is a good friend of mine, which i went to high school with.

The other two 14 year old girls, Kelly and Kelly had done the e before, and told Irma, the now dead 14 year old, that she should try it with them. Once the effects of the drug started effecting the girls, Irma at around 10pm reported having a head ache, the two girls kelly and kelly gave irma two extra strength tylenol, being young and not knowing how to take care of someone on the substance. We aren't sure if the girls were drinking or not, but at around midnight-1am the kelly's called the drug dealer Antonio, and Calin to see what was wrong with Irma, who was having trouble, becoming faint, and going in and out of consciousness. When the boys got to their house they had tried giving her water and what not. The other two girls were too concerned about their friend and were busy trying to get up and the two guys. At around 5:30 they left, leaving irma at the house alone, in what they thought was sleep. Irma's cousin was supposed to be picking her up that morning, when the parents of one of the kelly's awoke to irma's colmatized body. The problem here is 1) the girls didn't know what not to do when some one has a headache (dont give them asprin! and drink lots of water) and 2) the guys were too concerned with their own asses to call the paramedics, which would have saved her life. Although im not a doctor, I'm almost posotive if Irma would have just drank some water, she would have been ok, and therefore (which the media would never confess) the E is not at fault here, but rather ignorance and neglect!

TO ALL RAVERS, AND EXPERIMENTERS PLEASE BE SAFE, RESEARCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING, AND PLAY RESPOSIBLY!!! LOVE TO ALL! TO IRMA, REST IN PEACE GIRL!
 
Re: The real story

I'm almost posotive if Irma would have just drank some water, she would have been ok,
Click to expand...

I suspect that she died from drinking too much water (hyponatremia.) The main clue (besides young girls being the choice demographic) is that she was in a coma and the parents decided to remove life support. That implies brain damage, which is consistent with a hyponatremia death. The other major mechanism of death (heatstroke) tends to kill by multiple organ failure.

She would probably be alive if her friends had felt they could safely call an ambulance/take her to a hospital without getting in trouble.
 
What about the asprin? The two girls reported that she hadn't been drinking water untill the boys came over.
 
This is all so very unfortunate. :(

I'm not sure what the exact pathology would be, but she also could have been one of the few individuals who can't metabolize MDMA properly (and I'd suspect that if this was the case, giving her acetaminophen may have complicated matters). TheDEA.org, if her liver was deficient in a CYP2D6, or other MDMA metabolizing enzyme, could this also possibly result in brain damage?

If the girls were properly educated they would have known to: provide a sports type of drink designed to maintain an electrolyte balance (this is why I always prefer to recommend a sports drink rather than water). They also would/should have given their friend a quarter tablet (her "first time") and waited an hour or so, and if there was no problem then allowed her take the remaining 3/4s of the pill.

It's sad, because this is another case of where the "just say NO" campaign has resulted in someone's death. :(


As a side note, I was glad to see that neither the media nor the police included any artificial scare tactics. The report was straight forward and honest. Although, it would be nice if they'd publish the pathology report.
 
SpinSpinSugar said:
What about the asprin? The two girls reported that she hadn't been drinking water untill the boys came over.
Click to expand...

The Tylenol (acetaminophen, not aspirin) may have complicated things if she was having difficulty metabolizing the MDMA. Acetaminophen is rather hard on the liver in higher doses, and being in distress due to a metabolic deficiency may amplify the effect of acetaminophen on the liver. But in all honesty, I'm not sure. Someone with formal medical training would really need to answer that question.


We really need to address the issue of MDMA dosage for first time MDMA users. The correct way for someone to take their first time dose is to take a much smaller quantity than a "normal" dose, and then wait for a period of time (around an hour or so). This is how Shulgin approached his research (and is also what is commonly recommended with the currently available "research chemicals"). If someone does have a sensitivity to the drug, it is far better to discover this with a very small dose rather than with a normal or higher dosage.

As TheDEA.org ,mentioned, she could have taken too much water which can result in hyponatremia. This is why it is much better to drink sports drinks such as Gatorade or PowerAid (or a beverage along those lines) which is designed to keep one's electrolytes in balance.
 
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Teenage girls to stay in jail in Ecstasy case

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Prosecution says two should have helped their friend sooner
By Malaika Fraley, STAFF WRITER

BELMONT -- A judge Monday denied requests for home arrest and ordered two 14-year-old girls to remain jailed in connection with death of their friend, Irma Perez -- a Belmont eighth-grader who died after the three girls took Ecstasy at a sleepover April 23.

"There's a dead person," Juvenile Court Judge Marta Diaz said in response to a defense attorney's argument that the girls are not a danger to themselves or the community.

The girls -- a Belmont resident and a Redwood City resident whose names are being withheld by the Times because they are minors -- were charged Monday with one count each of furnishing drugs, possession of a controlled substance and willfully allowing a child to suffer.

Of the latter charge, Deputy District Attorney Eddie Thomas Jr. said, "It means we believe
that the child was in distress and there are certain actions that should have been taken."

Altogether, the three counts carry punishment of up 13 years in state prison, Thomas said.

The girls were arrested and booked into Hillcrest Juvenile Facility on Friday. Perez, 14, was pronounced dead Wednesday. She had been unconscious since she was rushed to Stanford Medical Center's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital on the morning of April 24, according to authorities.

Dressed in oversized orange T-shirts issued by the jail, the two 14-year-olds who survived the night of drug use appeared in court Monday looking tired and sad, their eyes frequently welling with tears. Their families, parents, siblings and grandparents, came in support. One mother kissed her daughter on the cheek and whispered "I love you" just before the proceedings began.

Defense attorney David Cohen argued the Redwood City girl should be released to her parents, who are well-respected in the community and plan to supervise the girl 24 hours a day, as well as provide her counseling and drug-test her often.

Diaz said no, and indirectly criticized the family for allowing their daughter to spend time with her co-defendant. The girls had been ordered not to associate with each other for a six-month period ending last October, after the Redwood City resident was expelled from Ralston following a marijuana-related incident.

Diaz said the girls were also being jailed for their own protection. Redwood City police are investigating an alleged death threat. The girls will return to court later this month for further detention hearings. It's still unclear if they will be tried together, as Cohen is aggressively trying to bring his client home as soon as possible -- a move that prompted a heated debate in Diaz's chambers Monday.

Philip Barnett, the defense attorney for the Belmont girl, wants to wait for the results of Perez's autopsy before going to trial. San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said toxicology test results, which will show how much of the drug was in Perez's system, will take four to six weeks.

Two other people have been charged in connection with Perez's death. One is a 17-year-old Carlmont High School boy who has been slapped with the same charges as the girls and is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday to obtain an attorney.

Belmont resident Antonio Rivera, 20, has been charged with one misdemeanor and seven felony counts for allegedly supplying the minors with the Ecstasy. He's scheduled to enter a plea in court on May 18.

Link
 
I still can't believe that her friends are being charged with connection to her death. Loosing a friend at that young of an age is scarring. Being put in jail and BLAMED will totally fuck them up for life.

Drugs are a victimless crime until the law gets involved
 
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