Two California high school students have been arrested after two teens overdosed and one of them died at a nearby campus.
Melanie Ramos, 15, has been identified as the student found dead on Tuesday inside a bathroom stall at Bernstein High School in Hollywood.
A 15-year-old boy, who has not been named because he is a minor, was arrested for allegedly selling fentanyl-laced pills to Melanie and another girl, 15, who also overdosed but received medical attention and is expected to survive.
The Los Angeles Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told ABC News that the 15-year-old suspect was in possession of more pills when he was taken into custody. He is expected to be charged with manslaughter.
A 16-year-old boy was also arrested for allegedly selling drugs to an individual who had overdosed earlier during the day at the nearby Lexington Park. Authorities believe the suspects operated together.
The suspects are students at a charter school near the Bernstein High School campus.
The girls were found on Tuesday after the stepfather of the surviving student went to look for her when she failed to return home from school. Although his stepdaughter had symptoms of overdose, she was able to tell him that her friend was inside a bathroom stall before being transported to the hospital.
Paramedics were called to the scene but the other girl was pronounced dead. LAPD told ABC that the victims bought what they believed were Percocet pills from the 15-year-old suspect at Lexington Park, where a person had overdosed and been administered Narcan just hours earlier.
Melanie’s aunt, Gladys Manriques, has since created a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral costs.
“Is there no routine where the school checks that there’s no student left behind?” Ms Manriques told ABC. “We do feel we need justice. Whoever is out there poisoning our kids, it’s not fair for them to be out free.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District has issued a statement saying the school was working with LAPD to investigate the circumstances around Melanie’s death. The district also said there would be more law enforcement presence at the campus in the coming days.
“We are working with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the lead agency on this ongoing investigation, and at this point and due to confidentiality issues, we have no further information to share.”
“As we work together with LAPD to uncover the details of this tragic situation, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of both students,” the statement read.
Fentanyl is a drug 100 times more potent than morphine and only two milligrams of the substance can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Analysis from the agency has determined 42 percent of pills tested for fentanyl contained at least 2 milligrams.
