Police: Towson University Freshman Dies In Off-Campus Apartment After Drinking
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) --Baltimore County Police are investigating the death of a Towson University freshman, who they believe died after drinking at an off-campus apartment--just one week into the school year.
Christie Ileto reports the extent of her drinking remains a mystery.
Police say there's no foul play but want to know what exactly was in the young woman's system before she collapsed and died.
The girl's friends say the 18-year-old had been drinking before she collapsed at an off-campus apartment over the weekend.
Just days into the fall semester, a Towson University student is found dead.
Police say freshman Julia Margaret Ratnaraj was found unresponsive in an off-campus apartment in the 300-block of East Joppa Road. She was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center and pronounced dead.
Now they want to know if binge drinking played a role in her death.
"What she was doing? What exactly was she drinking? Maybe other people she had been with," said Cpl. John Wachter, Baltimore County Police.
The 18 year old's friends tell police she had been drinking before she arrived and had smoked tobacco with a hooka.
"It's unfortunate," said Michael Barrotta.
He didn't know her personally but says it's a wakeup call for their freshman class.
"I feel like everywhere you go, a lot of kids just over drink and don't even know what's about to come and worst case scenario a poor girl dies because of it," Barrotta sia.d
The cause of death is still under investigation.
But the incident comes on the heels of an eye-opening report released last month showing binge drinking at Maryland college campuses is rampant.
Forty seven percent of surveyed students say they binge drink once a month, and 90 percent say alcohol is easily accessible.
It's a drinking culture that some say is getting out of control.
"It's an epidemic! It's every weekend. What that means on college campuses is you can party all you want and nobody is going to make sure that you have to be home and no one is going to wake you up, and no one's going to say no," said Mike Gimbel, substance abuse expert.
Ratnaraj was from New Jersey. Police are now waiting for the results of her autopsy.
Towson University requires all freshman to complete an alcohol education program.
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