Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore said the 15-year-old suspect allegedly sold the narcotic to two 15-year-old girls on the Bernstein campus, causing both of them to overdose.
One of them, identified by the coroner’s office as Melanie Ramos, died on the floor of a girls’ bathroom on the campus Tuesday night.
Neither suspect was identified due to their ages. Moore said there were four victims who suffered overdoses from a series of related drug sales —which date back to Aug. 26 — though the fourth victim was given Narcan and has not come forward. He added that the arrests happened swiftly because the surviving 15-year-old girl was able to help police identify who she purchased the drugs from.
Mayor Eric Garcetti said that he was not “just interested in the final distributors of the pill that pedaled this death.” According to police and Los Angeles Unified School District officials, the situation unfolded around 8 p.m. Tuesday, when a man went to Bernstein high, 1309 N. Wilton Place, in search of his stepdaughter, who had not returned from school.
Moore said Ramos and her friend purchased at least one pill they thought was the pain killer Percocet from the 15-year-old suspect at Bernstein High School. The drug is believed to have been laced with the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl, although testing was still being performed to identify the narcotic, Moore said.Anyone with additional information was asked to contact West Bureau Homicide investigators at 213-382-9470 or 877-LAPD-24-7.