Melanie Ramos death: Boy, 15, arrested over fatal OD at Bernstein High School sold fentanyl-laced pills on campus
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Helen Bernstein High School was under extreme pressure after a 15-year-old teen overdosed on fentanyl-laced Percocet pills. The horror continued as three more teenagers were found overdosing but were taken to the hospital in time. It was then revealed that they were given these lethal pills by a teenager at Lexington Park. Now, a 15-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the death of the 15-year-old girl.
The police responded to a call from the school located in the 1300 block of North Wilton Place in Hollywood for an overdose investigation around 9 pm on Tuesday, September 13. NBC Los Angeles reported that the 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in the overdose death on Thursday, September 15, and was identified as Melanie Ramos. Another 17-year-old girl who was found and treated soon came into stable condition and told the officials that they bought the pills from a dealer at Lexington Park. These pills are laced with fentanyl which is the cause of death as it is 50 times more potent than heroin. The police believe that the girls bought the pills on the school campus, went to the bathroom, crushed the pill, and snorted it. A 16-year-old boy was also arrested and booked on suspicion of drug sales for allegedly selling narcotics to a third student at Lexington Park near the high school. In total four teenagers were found overdosing on the pills.
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Earlier today we joined Mayor Garcetti and LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to announce an update on the overdose death and hospitalization of students at Helen Bernstein High School.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) September 16, 2022
Watch the news conference: https://t.co/uoiHcNBUGO pic.twitter.com/deY0BbxWda
LAPD further said that the boy was a student at the public charter school Apex Academy. The school is independent of the Los Angeles Unified School District and shares a campus with Bernstein, which is believed to be the connecting point between the dealer and the victims. LAPD Chief Michael Moore said in a news conference Thursday that when the boy was arrested at his grandmother's home, he was in possession of more pills that are believed to be laced with fentanyl as well. "There is a drug organization behind this," Moore said. It was further explained that the surviving girl woke up from her overdose and ran outside, where she found her father and informed him of the unresponsive friend. The chief also explained that the boy who was arrested had prior contact with the police past curfew and tobacco possession but "no other criminal contact."
"These are not overdoses, these are people who have been poisoned. These are murders," said Mayor Garcetti. Believing it to be a work of a drug organization, Garcetti said that the police department is determined to go up the chain and eliminate the problem. He continued, "If you prey on our children, it will not end well for you. We're not just interested in the final distributors of the pills that peddled this death, we want to go up that chain... And anybody who is involved with the distribution of this of, the manufacturing of this, those who are enabling the dealers that allow this to happen, this will not end well for you."