A Maui teenager was pronounced dead less than 13 hours after he was seen drinking beer and popping prescription pills at a house party in Kahului.
The teen is identified by family members as Jayvaughn Shaw.
Police say he brought the medicine to the party and offered it to other party goers.
This is Jayvaughn Shaw.
He went to Maui High School.
Unfortunately, his family will never get to see him graduate, or play another football game.
Jayvaughn was pronounced dead yesterday afternoon.
He was 15.
"He was a loving kid and that’s why everyone is having a hard time because it was a shock to everybody," said Stacey Hosino, Jayvaughn’s grandmother.
Police believe Jayvaughn died from taking too many prescription pain pills while drinking alcohol.
He died inside the Kahului home where he attended a party the night before.
"It’s heart wrenching to know that when people do dabble in drugs and alcohol this can sometimes be the consequence," said Dr. Greg Strongosky, Chief of Emergency Dept. at Kaiser Permanente.
Dr. Strongosky says it’s somewhat common for Kaiser’s ER and Urgent Care facilities to get patients who’ve taken too many prescription drugs.
"Occasionally daily, maybe 2-3 times more so on the weekends, more so on the evenings," said Strongosky.
It’s still unclear which medication, or how much of it Jayvaughn ingested.
It’s also still unclear how much alcohol he drank.
"Everybody has different limits. Body weight might come into play, gender might come into play," said Strongosky.
According to the CDC, the death toll from overdoses of prescription pain relievers has more than tripled in the past decade.
That amounts to more than 40 deaths every day across the nation.
Police are still trying to figure out how and where Jayvaughn got the prescription medication from.
And they’re also investigating a possible burglary at the home where the party was held.
"The owner of the residence was off island and was unaware that anyone was at his home nor did he give anybody permission to be within his home or have a party," said Lt. Wayne Ibarra, Maui Police Dept.
Jayvaughn’s family still has a lot of unanswered questions.
"If anyone has any information as far as what happened that lead up to the death to please come forward," said Christieann Cummings, Jayvaughn’s mother.
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Meanwhile, another person at the party, who was also seen taking pills and drinking beer, was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
