Alcohol Involved in 14-Year-Old's Sleepover Death

A 14-year-old girl died after apparently drinking soda spiked with alcohol at a sleepover in Sonoma County on Saturday night, a Sonoma County sheriff's lieutenant said Monday.
   
The sheriff's office identified the girl as Takeimi Rao, of Santa Rosa, who recently graduated from Rincon Valley Middle School.

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday, but the cause of Rao's death won't be determined until toxicology test results are in, Lt. Dennis O'Leary said.

Three other girls attended the sleepover at Rao's house, located in the 6000 block of Foothill Ranch Road in unincorporated Sonoma County north of Santa Rosa, O'Leary said.

The girls had initially told one the host girl's mother that she had food poisoning. But when authorities found her in the morning she was unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The girl's mother and stepfather hosted the sleepover for their daughter and her three friends.

Rao's mother also looked in on her daughter, who appeared to be asleep in her bed, O'Leary said.

When Rao's mother went to wake her around 9 a.m., she was unresponsive and the mother then called 911, O'Leary said.

One of the girls admitted to bringing alcohol into the room, and sheriff's deputies recovered a bottle of alcohol, O'Leary said.

"The parents are really good parents and they were home the entire night," O'Leary said.

It's believed the girls were experimenting with alcohol they had found in the house, O'Leary said.

Friends were posting messages Monday on a Facebook page titled "Rest in Peace Takeimi Rao." 

"I only had to hang out with you as much as we did for me to love you. I'll miss you girl rest in peace. I will never forget you," one post read.

"Nobody this young and beautiful should have passed away. Especially at 14. Everyone misses you. Hopefully this will all teach us a lesson. Somebody should have been there to prevent it. RIP," read another post.

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