This wasn’t a Goth girl or a bad kid

Heroin Use Hits Home
Westfield grad’s death shocks school.
By Bonnie Hobbs
March 20, 2008

Until last week, the recent, heroin-related death of a 19-year-old Westfield High grad was known only to her family, friends, some students and Fairfax County police.
But news of the tragedy burst forth during a March 13, drug-and-alcohol forum at the school, when parents who’d heard the rumor asked Principal Tim Thomas, point-blank, "How bad is the heroin problem at school and what are you doing to address it?"
He answered them honestly, and then the girl’s uncle stood up, faced the 100 or so parents in attendance and said the victim was his niece. To protect her identity, Centre View is not identifying him; but he spoke from the heart and pulled no punches.
"I’m the uncle of the girl who died, and the anger I feel is intense," he said. "This wasn’t a Goth girl or a bad kid. She used to be a cheerleader at this school, and a golfer."
He said she suffered a traumatic incident at age 13, but didn’t tell her parents until she was 17. "She had traumatic-stress syndrome, and her parents got help for her," he said. "But she started ingesting heroin last August."
"Little groups [in the community] have it," said the uncle. And, he continued, "The night of Wednesday, March 5, "My niece and her boyfriend went to a dealer and purchased heroin. But he had to get home, so she came into her house with the heroin and went downstairs to her bedroom in the basement."
She and the boy phoned each other during the night and, eventually, "Something about her didn’t seem right," said her uncle. "But the boy’s mother wouldn’t let him leave the house so — instead of calling my brother and his wife — he called the dealer and asked him to go to her house and peek in her window."
"So he did and, when he saw how she was laying, he panicked and went to Safeway and called 911," said the uncle. "The police came to the house and found my niece dead."
He then pleaded with anyone who knows someone using drugs to try to stop them. "Kids have problems," he said. "And for every well-grounded one, there may be one not so well-grounded — and they need good friends to support them. Secrets have to be coughed up."
The uncle said his family is devastated and upset by the loss of a young girl with so much promise, and he warned parents that it can happen to anyone. "If you have a hunch [your children are using drugs], go with it," he said. "Talk to them. Keep the lines of communication open; this is a serious situation. Don’t let things go by you because they’ll go by you so fast that they’ll knock you down."

AS FOR THOMAS, he said the heroin problem at Westfield is "real bad for about 10 or 15 kids. The most significant impact is that it has hundreds — if not thousands — of students scared. We’ve spent the last week interviewing well over 100 students about their friends [who might use heroin or know others who do] — some voluntarily, some not."
Thomas said the 10-15 heroin users already identified "are from middle, upper-middle and upper-class families — all white students — and I’m very concerned about a small number of students. I think we’re dealing with kids with too much time and too much money."
However, Westfield’s principal said he was especially impressed by "our kids’ willingness to rat each other out. The police are also dealing with some criminal investigations." Earlier in the forum, student moderator Kent Bailey had praised the school security staff, and Thomas reiterated to parents that "our security staff, headed by Ray Clements, is great. Your kids are safe and secure."
According to Thomas, the numbers and range of students who’ve talked to school officials and other authorities after the tragedy is widespread. Said Thomas, "It ranges from those who’ve never used [drugs] before, to those who do marijuana infrequently, to those who snort coke, those who do marijuana frequently and those who use heroin."
Thomas said some of the most difficult expulsions he's had at Westfield this year have begun with him saying, "I never thought I'd be here with you." So, he told parents, "If you think your kids aren't doing anything, think again. And any high-school principal who says it's not happening [in his or her school] is a liar."
He urged parents to "check their room, look through their stuff — be nosy — and communicate. Of those students we're most concerned about, we've had conversations with them and their parents and they're in some kind of intervention."
But, warned Thomas, "Kids are snorting it — and the line of heroin they're snorting is no larger than a staple. It's mixed with other things, sometimes, and they're hooked. It's in our community, folks; if you want it, you can get it."

"IN THE LAST couple weeks, the school's been through a lot of difficult incidents," he said. "A family's house burned down, on Wednesday [March 5] a graduate passed away and, Friday night [March 7], there was heroin action in the community and a close call with a Centreville student. Former and current students were involved and paramedics were called. And this week, another student [got into trouble]."
With all that happening, said Thomas, "Our students are stressed out and extremely vulnerable — and spring break couldn't come at a worse time for them. Keep an eye on your kids, know what they're doing and know who they're hanging out with."
The Westfield grad who died was buried Saturday in Manassas, near other relatives, including her grandparents. At the time of the tragedy, she was taking classes at NOVA. Memorial donations may be sent to Menninger Clinic, 2801 Gessner Drive, Houston, Texas 77080 — where she was treated in November.
"The autopsy isn't back, yet," said her uncle. "But we feel it could have been the combination of her prescription drug for depression, plus the heroin, that killed her. We were all shocked to find out she was using heroin, but I don't want Westfield to suffer [a stigma] because of this. We're just typical of what's happening in society."
The student panelists at last week's forum also defended their school. "I went for three years not knowing people did drugs at Westfield," said Lindsay Thomas. "Now, what's happened is mind-boggling and shocking."
"But there are good kids that don't do this, and you can surround yourself with them," said Emily McClelland. "The stuff that goes on shakes you up and makes you nervous," added Lindsay Thomas. "But most of all, I'm proud to go to Westfield. There are a lot more good things going on here, than bad."