Update on local coverage of suspected Ecstasy death near Seattle.
04:40 PM PST on Friday, February 16, 2007
By ROB PIERCY / KING 5 News
KING
Danielle McCarthy
EVERETT, Wash. - A 19-year-old man arrested and accused of providing
the drug that killed 16-year-old Danielle McCarthy of Puyallup
appeared in a Snohomish County courtroom Friday.
Edmonds detectives arrested the Puyallup man, who police say provided
McCarthy with the drug Ecstasy. The suspect, described as a friend of
McCarthy's, was booked into the King County Jail on a charge of
"controlled substance homicide." He was later transferred to Snohomish
County where he made the court appearance.
We won't show his face or release his name until he has been formally
charged.
After a month-and-a-half of investigation, police made the arrest.
"If you deliver a drug illegally to someone and the person dies from
using that drug, that's controlled substance homicide," explained
Snohomish County prosecutor Seth Fine.
Fine says proving that crime is very difficult.
But in this case, police say the 19-year-old admits to selling
Danielle ecstasy.
Still says fine, "that's not enough. Wa****ngton's law is very
restrictive on proving a crime by the defendant's statement."
Prosecutors will have until next Thursday to determine if they have
enough to file formal charges.
Police say they're still gathering evidence and could arrest even more
people.
According to police paperwork, the group she was with saw her lips
were blue. They tried to wake her up by putting her in a warm bath.
They checked the Internet and determined she'd overdosed. Only then
did they take her to a hospital.
"The investigation is obviously still ongoing - it hasn't been closed
by this arrest," said Edmonds Sgt. Don Anderson.
Danielle's father, Patrick McCarthy, says others should be held
responsible. "There was more than just one person involved in my
daughter's death. There's multiple people involved."
He says the people who watched his daughter get sick and suffer a
seizure that night should also be held accountable.
"They knew she was sick, they knew why she was sick," McCarthy said,
asking, "why couldn't you call, why couldn't you help?"
But according to Wa****ngton law, you have to witness a crime against a
person and know that person suffered harm because of the crime to be
held liable for their death.
In February, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner determined that
McCarthy, who was attending a New Year’s Eve party in Edmonds, fatally
overdosed on ecstasy.
McCarthy's parents say police told them their daughter got sick while
driving with a group from the party in Edmonds to one on Greek Row in
the University District. The group drove back to Edmonds, where they
laid Danielle down on a couch.
She had been dead for some time when she was dropped off, alone, at
Stevens Hospital that morning.
|
