LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KERO) — A teenage boy faced a judge on Monday for his alleged role in a deadly drug overdose at a Hollywood high school. The 15-year-old is accused of selling a fentanyl-laced drug that killed one girl and sent another to the hospital.
Four high school students overdosed and one died at Bernstein High School in Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 14 after they were given fentanyl by a fellow student.
Gladys Manriques is the aunt of 15-year-old Melanie Ramos, the girl who died on the campus of Bernstein High School. "I didn’t feel angry. I felt sad," said Manriques. "He’s a minor, he’s young. In this case, I think both sides lose."
Investigators say she and another girl shared a pill they thought was Percocet but ended up having fentanyl in it. Ramos’s friend had to be hospitalized, as did two other students who overdosed in a separate case that same day.
Los Angeles police arrested two teen boys in connection with the two cases but are warning that Southern California is in the throes of a major wave of fentanyl overdoses. The boy arrested in Ramos's death is facing manslaughter charges for allegedly selling the deadly drug.
Last week city leaders promised to target fentanyl sellers higher up in the drug supply chain.
