Alcohol Poisoning Feared in Gilroy Teen's Death

Gilroy teen dies Saturday morning from apparent alcohol poisoning.

Family and friends are grieving the loss of a 15-year-old girl from Gilroy who died Saturday morning from apparent alcohol poisoning.

Shortly before nine a.m. Saturday, medics responded to a 911 call at a home on Bunting Court in Gilroy. A fifteen-year-old girl, who was later identified as the daughter of a Gilroy firefighter, was unresponsive and having trouble breathing.

She was rushed to Saint Louise Regional hospital where she died.

According to Gilroy Police Sergeant Jim Gillio, it is believed that alcohol poisoning may have contributed to the teen's death.

Gillio told NBC Bay Area, "So far, what we know about the 15-year-old and her obtaining the alcohol is that they were having a sleepover with two other girls that are friends of hers, and somehow, alcohol was brought into the house."

On its website, the Gilroy Dispatch reports the sleepover happened at the home of former Gilroy City Councilman Roland Velasco -- and that one of the girls was Velasco's stepdaughter.

On Saturday, there was no answer at the door on Bunting Court and neighbors respectfully declined to comment.

An estimated 145,000 people under the age of 20 each year in the U.S. end up in emergency rooms after drinking too much alcohol.

Gillio says cases of alcohol poisoning are rare in Gilroy, and that he couldn't remember a similar case within the last ten years.

Authorities have not released the girl's name and the coroner has not yet determined her cause of death.

Police say it's too early to say how the alcohol was obtained -- or if anyone will face charges for supplying alcohol to those underage girls.

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