LOS ANGELES — Melanie Ramos, a 15-year-old student who died of a drug overdose this week at Helen Bernstein High School in Hollywood, loved to travel, dreamed of one day joining the Army and was best friends with her sisters.
“Full of life,” is how a family member described her — and as far as they knew, Melanie did not use drugs.
“You can tell when a kid struggles in any sense. They shut themselves out and they don’t want to be social, not even with family members, but that wasn’t the case here,” said Gladys Manriques, a family member who spoke on their behalf. “She was very respectful, and she made sure she let her mom know where she was at all times.”
