Arrested after teen OD, dies in school bathroom

Los Angeles police on Thursday arrested two teenage boys in connection with the death of a 15-year-old girl who overdosed in a high school bathroom after purchasing pills that may have been laced with fentanyl on campus.

Police issued a search warrant around 8:30 a.m. as part of an investigation into the death of a girl from an overdose a day earlier at Bernstein High School in Hollywood.

A 15-year-old boy who lives with his grandmother has been detained on suspicion of manslaughter, Moore said. Investigators believe he sold the pills to two of his 15-year-old friends who were advertised as Percocet around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The Los Angeles County coroner has identified the deceased student as Melanie Ramos, 15. Her unidentified friend, who also overdosed, remained hospitalized and expected to recover.

According to Moore, police also arrested a 16-year-old boy on suspicion of selling fentanyl-laced pills to two other high school students who suffered an overdose after purchasing the pills laced with fentanyl in nearby Lexington Park. Arrested. He could face drug-related charges, the chief said.

Moore said police are working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to find the distributor who provided the pills to the 15- and 16-year-old boys.

“There are drug cartels behind this,” he said.

The teenage suspects knew each other and both attended Apex Academy, an independent charter school that shares a campus with Bernstein.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a press conference that it’s becoming increasingly common for dealers to lace common pain relievers with fentanyl.

“These are not overdoses. These are poisoned people,” Garcetti said. “One pill can kill you”

Officers were called to Bernstein High Tuesday night after a man said his 15-year-old daughter-in-law overdosed on campus, police said.

The girl and her friend had not returned from school in the afternoon, and the man began to drive around town looking for her. He found his daughter-in-law in the school courtyard around 8 p.m., Police Lt. John Radke said.

She suffered an overdose, but was able to tell her stepfather that her friend was in the girls’ bathroom on campus.

A man and school staff found another girl unresponsive in the school restroom where students and parents had gathered for the night’s sports day. Police said the man rescued her until paramedics arrived and pronounced her dead. His stepdaughter was hospitalized.

Earlier in the day, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported that two teenagers may have been overdosed in Lexington Park and a cluster of other schools a few blocks from Bernstein High School, according to police. Responded to individual calls.

“Victims of the overdose are believed to be Bernstein and students from a local high school,” a police statement said.

One of the victims was a 17-year-old student at nearby Hollywood High School, said Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Including the most recent victim, there were a total of six drug-related incidents, including an overdose resulting from an illegal drug recently purchased in Lexington Park, a residential neighborhood in East Hollywood near U.S. Highway 101. , said Carvalho.

“This is a park that is well known for allowing individuals to sell drugs and provide them to some students,” the superintendent told reporters Wednesday.

Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, who represents the area, ordered the park closed Wednesday, Carvalho said.

In a statement, LA Unified said Bernstein High School has grief and crisis counselors on standby.

Law enforcement officials across the country have been warning for months about the dangers of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It is often found in illegal pills disguised as prescription pain relievers and other drugs.