17-year-old El Camino Real High School student dies of fentanyl poisoning
A 17-year-old El Camino Real Charter High School student has died from a fentanyl overdose, adding additional concerns onto the already mounting problem facing Southern California educators.
The information was announced to staff and student body via a letter Thursday, announcing that the student had died at a nearby hospital.
CBSLA Reporter Kara Finnstrom has learned that the teenage boy who died was Cade Kitchen, according to the school's principal.
Kitchen, who played baseball for the Conquistadores, died last week from the fatal drug that has claimed the lives of other students.
The latest in a string of tragic student deaths related to fentanyl, many parents have decided to speak with their children about the new danger facing them on a day-to-day basis.
"It's heartbreaking, because it touches home to me," said Kate Vinas, a parent. "They're young kids, they don't know. And that child might've not known what he was taking."
Kitchen's family and the head baseball coach at El Camino Real have set up a GoFundMe that will go towards fighting fentanyl and teens using drugs.
While details surrounding the student's death are still unclear as the investigation continues, the community has already begun mourning the loss of yet another young life. Weeks ago, a 15-year-old Bernstein High School student, Melanie Ramos, was found dead in the school bathroom after taking what she believed to be Percocet, which was in turn a fentanyl laced pill.
"I think it's tragic, but I think we really have to educate our kids," said Clara Jeredjian. "You have a lot to lose. It's not worth it."
In an effort to combat the epidemic plaguing their students, Los Angeles Unified School District officials in the days after Ramos' death voted to provide Narcan, or Naloxone, on every campus -- a move set to be completed in coming the next week.
"The more people that are aware, the better," Vinas said. "I wish we could get it off the streets, but it's just, there's just too many people involved and who knows what's going on."
Several law enforcement agencies have issued their own warnings in recent months, especially with a recent trend of "rainbow fentanyl" hitting the streets, designed to entice teenagers with a bright variation of colors.
Fentanyl has been tracked in 77% of teenage overdose deaths across the country, according to Los Angeles County public health officials.
Administrators at ECRCHS, which operates independently from LAUSD, made it clear that counselors and psychologists available to anyone on campus who needs assistance.
