After a Los Angeles teen passed away in her high school's restroom from a suspected fentanyl overdose, her mother filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Fifteen-year-old Melanie Ramos was a student at Helen Bernstein High School when she tragically lost her life following a presumed fentanyl overdose. Melanie's mother, Elena Perez, accuses school officials of not doing enough to tamp down on drug use on the campus as well as not doing enough to protect her daughter, even after the overdose.
The lawsuit accuses the district of knowing that there were “rampant drug sales” on the school campus, yet it did not act accordingly to put in place appropriate safety measures for students. The family’s lawyer, Michael Carrillo, shared with the Los Angeles Times that the school was aware of the drug issues at the high school. “Kids would be buying and selling and using drugs in the bathroom at Bernstein, and administrators on campus did nothing about it,” Carrillo said. “They knew because there were six prior calls to Bernstein High School for potential drug overdoses in 2022 alone. Six prior. How do you not make any changes to protect kids?”
The teen's lifeless body was found on September 13th around 8:00 PM by the father of another student who was with Melanie during the time of her overdose. Officials detail that Melanie and another 15-year-old female classmate had both overdosed after taking a pill they thought was Percocet.
After ingesting the pill, both teens overdosed and fell unconscious. Hours after the overdose, Melanie's classmate woke up in the evening hours to find Melanie still unconscious. The classmate wandered outside the school building and ran into her stepfather and explained to him that Melanie was still in the building. The classmate’s stepfather along with another school worker went to the bathroom where they found Melanie's body. After authorities arrived on the scene, paramedics declared Melanie deceased. Autopsy reports are still underway to determine what drugs were in the teen's system and how long she had been deceased.
According to officials, the surviving classmate's stepdad became concerned after his daughter did not return home from school. The stepdad drove around the community to look for the two girls when he came across his stepdaughter in the school's courtyard. According to the family's lawsuit, had the school done more to look for their daughter after they determined she was missing, she may have been able to receive medical aid sooner. A school official had contacted Melanie’s family earlier in the day to report that the teen was not in class, but according to the family, no more was done to look for the teen. The lawsuit also accuses the school of failing to take preventive measures including “bathroom sweeps” to stop the flow and use of drugs within the school.
In a news conference, Melanie's aunt Gladys Manriques shared, “If it wasn’t for the other party’s parent, then my niece wouldn’t have been found until maybe the next day.” Manriques adds, “That’s why we want justice. We don’t want another parent to suffer what we’re suffering.”
According to L.A. schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, at least 16 students throughout the district had overdosed either on or off campus since the start of the school year. Thirteen of the overdoses were related to fentanyl.
Following Melanie's overdose death, two boys aged 15 and 16 were arrested in connection to the case. Both boys were accused of selling drugs to students throughout the area.
