Posted on | August 11, 2012 |
Mary Pope and a photo of her daughter, Samantha Aarts, who died in 2010.
Mary Pope is spending her second summer talking to audiences of incoming college freshmen, hoping they won?t end up like her daughter, Samantha.
Sam, a graduate of Riverside?s King High, was a freshman at Cal State S?Bernardino when she went to a party just before Thanksgiving 2010. She drank alcohol and took drugs and died of what Mary calls ?a fatal dose of morphine.? Samantha Aarts was 18.
When I heard Mary speak last summer, these talks were new to her and to Cal State and when reporters asked if anyone was being prosecuted Mary didn?t have an answer. But earlier this year, the RivCo DA charged Steven J. Erdodi, 23, and Colton C. Manwill, 21, with involuntary manslaughter and transport, sale and distribution of controlled substances ? cocaine and morphine. Both pleaded not guilty and are free on bail.
The charges followed indictments returned by a criminal grand jury. Why a grand jury? ?There was so much emotion involved,? said RivCo prosecutor Michelle Paradise. ?We wanted to see what the impact would be on regular people. It?s very unfortunate for everyone involved. It is criminal ? it is against the law. You can?t furnish drugs and keep furnishing them when someone is distressed.?
Court records reveal little about the defendants. Prosecutor Paradise says both lived in Woodcrest when they were subpoenaed to the grand jury. She was told Colton Manwill is a model.
Steven Erdodi?s public defender didn?t return my calls. Peter Morreale, Manwill?s attorney, said his client is ?just a young man, just a kid, there?s really nothing startling about him.?
Morreale said the Woodcrest party was a ?semi-isolated incident. It?s not the first time these kids had done drugs. Everybody at the party ? a group of about 8 to 15 ? knew everybody.?
Morreale hopes there won?t be a trial. No negotiations yet but, ?I hope we won?t have to put 12 in the box.? Next court date: Sept. 5.
Mary Pope welcomes the legal phase of a journey she never thought she?d take. ?There will be an accountability factor. If you play with fire, you?re going to get burned. Furnishing and sharing ? there?s a responsibility that comes with it. This is what those two young men have to face.?
These words may look harsh on the page, but it?s not exactly how they sounded.
?My heart goes out to the mothers of these two young men. I?ve had the ultimate loss. Their families face a loss if they do time.? Rather than see them become ?hardened,? Mary wants them (if convicted) to perform drug-related community service and ?become good fathers? My family doesn?t feel the same way.?
Whatever happens, lives will change. Have changed. ?I?ve embraced grief as my friend,? says Mary. ?I?ll speak about Sam, break down, talk about her and cry about her for the rest of my life because she was completely worth it.?
Over time, though, speaking to students has become more, not less, difficult. ?The shock has worn off and she?s not coming home.?
Reach Dan Bernstein at 951-368-9439 or dbernstein@PE.com
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Source: http://blog.pe.com/dan-bernstein/2012/08/11/from-the-party-house-to-the-courthouse/
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