The cause of death of a 15-year-old daughter of a Gilroy
firefighter who passed Dec. 5 after drinking with friends at a
slumber party cannot be determined, according to an autopsy
report.
The cause of death of a 15-year-old daughter of a Gilroy firefighter who passed Dec. 5 after drinking with friends at a slumber party cannot be determined, according to an autopsy report.
Sarah Rose Botill might have died from a preexisting heart condition that could have been exacerbated by alcohol or by inhaling a significant amount of water or watery vomit while intoxicated, according to a report released Tuesday.
“Without more information, the precise cause and manner of death cannot be unequivocally determined,” stated the autopsy report by medical examiner Joseph P. O’Hara.
Gilroy Police Sgt. Noel Provost said the case was forwarded on to the district attorney’s office Thursday morning. Police will review the case along with the prosecuting deputy district attorney, he said.
Kayla Dunigan, 18, who supplied the alcohol, could face criminal charges, depending on what the district attorney’s office decides, he said. Those charges could range from contributing to the delinquency of a minor to manslaughter, Sgt. Jim Gillio said in December.
On the other hand, Provost said he could not think of any charges that could apply to the Velasco family, whose home Botill was at when she drank and when she died. However, Provost stressed that charges would be up to the district attorney’s office.
District attorney’s spokesman Nick Muyo said on Wednesday that the district attorney’s office did not have any comment on the matter. That was before the district attorney’s office had received the case. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
On Dec. 5, Botill was at the home of former City Councilman Roland Velasco, according to police. There, Botill, Dunigan and the 16-year-old daughter of Lisa Velasco consumed half of a 750-milliliter bottle of Ketel One vodka mixed with sparkling cider, police said. Dunigan brought the alcohol to the party unbeknownst to her parents and the Velascos, neither of whom knew the girls were drinking, police said.
At age 4, Botill was diagnosed with an “innocent” heart murmur and irregular electrical activity in the heart that can place patients at risk of arrhythmia, according to the coroner’s report. The report also stated that there is a documented link between alcohol use and rhythm disturbances in apparently healthy people.
However, the report did not specify this as the cause of death.
Botill might have inhaled fresh water while being placed in the shower while impaired, according to the coroner’s report. About 8 a.m. of the morning Botill died, she and the 16-year-old girl at the party put on bathing suits and took a shower together, police said. Botill sat upright in the bath-shower combo at the time, according to police.
It was reported that an unspecified person also poured water over Botill’s face in an attempt to revive her, the coroner wrote.
Botill had not consumed nearly enough alcohol to die of alcohol-related causes alone, according to the coroner’s report. O’Hara determined that Botill’s blood ethanol concentration was at least .053 percent about one to two hours before her death.
“This blood concentration is not within the accepted lethal range for adults,” O’Hara concluded.
A person must have a blood alcohol content of .08 percent to be considered under the influence by California police, and forensic pathologists have told the Dispatch that it generally takes a blood alcohol content of anywhere from .20 percent to .30 percent to kill someone with little or no alcohol experience.
The girls began drinking vodka and eating snack food around 1 a.m. Dec. 5, consuming the cider and vodka mixture for about two hours, according to police. Previously, the girls had snuck out of the house at 10:45 p.m. Dec. 4 and traveled to the home of a friend, where Botill grabbed a 12-ounce beer from the refrigerator and may have drank about one quarter of it before the host took it away, police have said.
After vomiting at 4 a.m. in the bathroom, Botill slept in the bathroom in case she became sick again, police said. Dunigan left around 5 a.m. because she was disgusted with the vomiting, police said. At 7 a.m., the 16-year-old woke up to the sound of Botill vomiting. Botill was awake and coherent but said she was not feeling well. At 8 a.m., the 16-year-old asked her mother to help and the two girls showered.
When Botill exited the shower she became unresponsive but was breathing fine, according to police. At 8:44 a.m., Botill’s breathing became labored and Roland Velasco, a policy aide for Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, called 911. Velasco performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Botill and continued until paramedics arrived, police said. Velasco had received CPR training, police said.
Police have not said whether the Velascos called the Botills before calling paramedics.
Botill was pronounced dead at Saint Louise Regional Hospital at 9:30 a.m., just a few minutes after arriving.
Provost said Wednesday that he could not think of any questions that police had not asked regarding the case. Police had interviewed 12 people regarding the matter, he said.
“The only thing we don’t know is what caused this little girl to die,” Provost said.
