Suspect Charged After 2 Teens Found Dead in School Parking Lot Hours Before Graduation Ceremony
A Tennessee teenager has been charged with two counts of murder after she allegedly gave two classmates drugs that were laced with fentanyl and both died after ingesting them.
According to police, the suspect also consumed the drugs but survived the incident, which occurred just before high school graduation earlier this week.
Three students who attended the Fayette-Ware Comprehensive High School in Somerville, Tennessee, were found unconscious in a car in the school’s parking lot on Tuesday evening.
WREG-TV reported two female students who were aged 16 and 17 were both found dead in a vehicle at around 4:30 p.m.
A third teenager, who was also 17, was unconscious and taken to a hospital where she survived.
On Thursday, the girl was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder and an additional charge of drug possession for the fentanyl.
The drugs that were taken tested positive for the deadly drug but charges will depend on autopsy results.
The suspect appeared in a juvenile court Thursday but her identity has been kept private.
For now, the girl has been released into the custody of a relative and is under house arrest pending future court appearances. She will also be required to undergo drug testing.
The father of one of the deceased girls revealed the identity of his daughter and said he believed she was under the impression she was doing cocaine when she ingested the deadly fentanyl.
Mark Thorne identified the dead 16-year-old as his daughter Alyssa Thorne.
Thorne’s father told the WREG he had warned her about using street drugs the day she died in a FaceTime call.
“She was telling me that the boys were bringing cocaine to school, and I was telling her don’t mess with that,” he told WREG. “I don’t want to have to bury you. That was my exact words to her and that night she’s dead.”
Mark Thorne added, “She said, ‘Daddy I love you. I won’t do it and I don’t like the way it does me.'”
The school district released a statement about the deaths of the girls on Facebook Wednesday.
“The Fayette County Public Schools family suffered a terrible tragedy yesterday. First and foremost, we want to send our thoughts and prayers to the families of the young ladies who lost their lives,” said superintendent Verse Hammett.
Hamlett said the district would work to assist investigators but also wanted to provide resources to students.
“We encourage everyone to keep the friends and families of these young ladies and Fayette County Public Schools in your thoughts and prayers,” Hamlett also said.
The district held a balloon vigil to honor the two teens.
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