HEAT, DRUGS KILLED RAVER, MEDICAL EXAMINER FINDS

The state medical examiner ruled Tuesday that a 17-year-old Hot Springs boy
who collapsed at an Aug. 11 rave party at a southwest Little Rock warehouse
died of heat-related causes, induced by exertion and a mixture of two
illicit drugs.

William Skaife collapsed at a dance early Aug. 12 and was pronounced dead a
short time later at a Little Rock hospital.

Pulaski County Coroner Mark Malcolm said he received notification Tuesday
from the state medical examiner's office that toxicological tests performed
as part of Skaife's autopsy revealed the presence of the drugs ecstasy and
ketamine.

Ecstasy is a synthetic, psychoactive drug with both stimulant and
hallucinogenic properties. Ketamine is a depressant.

Dr. Steve Erickson, the associate medical examiner who performed the
autopsy, ruled the manner of death as undetermined, the coroner said.

"The combination of the environmental heat and the exertion, mixed with the
drugs to cause his death," Malcolm said. "According to the report, the
ecstasy level was high enough -- according to some of the studies out there
- -- to have caused his death alone."

Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley said he was not surprised
that drugs played a role in the boy's death. He said drugs are a prominent
fixture at rave parties.

"It's a recipe for disaster," Jegley said.

The prosecutor said he was troubled by the news that two founders of
Cybertribe -- the Little Rock group that organized and promoted monthly
parties over the past year -- were charged in federal court last month with
violating drug laws.

"This is a wake-up call for the parents of this community," Jegley said.
"With recent events in federal court and, now, the scientific evidence that
this young man died as a result of these chemicals, the word is out to
parents that these raves carry a grave potential for injuries or harm."

Jegley said he will talk to the U.S. attorney to see if there is
information that could help local law enforcement.

John "Chuck" Menefee and Jeff Hudnall -- Cybertribe's founders -- and two
others who frequent Cybertribe raves, Robert Kuta and David Thompson, were
charged earlier this year by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration with
conspiracy to possess ecstasy with intent to distribute. Menefee is also
charged with using a telephone in the commission of a crime.

Menefee asserted in July that Cybertribe's dance parties have been largely
successful in weeding out the rampant drug use that has often made raves a
target by police.

"I think this is really just another attack against this [rave] industry,"
Hudnall said days after his partner Menefee was indicted.

The four were indicted Aug. 9 on charges brought by the DEA. They are
scheduled for trial Oct. 15 before U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson in
Little Rock.

The dance where Skaife collapsed was held in a warehouse at 5905 Patterson
Road and was hastily arranged after State Fairgrounds administrators
earlier on Aug. 11 refused to allow the dance in the Hall of Industry.

Little Rock Police Department narcotics detective Sgt. J.B. Stephens said
he was surprised the location for the party was changed on such short notice.

"I had told my guys they could have the night off, and then I had to call
them back in late Friday afternoon to tell them to cancel their plans,"
Stephens said. "The rave was back on."

Stephens and a handful of undercover narcotics detectives spent several
hours at the warehouse but made no arrests.

Skaife collapsed inside the warehouse about 1:40 a.m. on Aug. 12, and was
carried unconscious from the building to be treated by emergency medical
personnel.

He was taken to St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, where he never
regained consciousness and was pronounced dead.

Two hours before Skaife collapsed inside the building, a 15-year-old
Memphis girl was struck in the head by a ventilation cover that fell from
the ceiling as she was dancing, a police report said.

The girl was treated at the scene and did not require hospitalization.

Some partygoers said the makeshift venue, called "Move 2" was inadequately
cooled and several people collapsed from the heat as the crowd swelled to
more than 1,000.

But, Stephens, who said he has attended every rave in Little Rock over the
past three years, said the heat at the party was no worse than past raves
that had been held at the Hall of Industry.

According to information provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
the drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or ecstasy can be extremely
dangerous in high doses.

"It can cause a marked increase in body temperature leading to the muscle
breakdown and kidney and cardiovascular system failure reported in some
fatal cases at raves," the institute reported.

Ketamine is used clinically as an anesthetic and has been approved for both
human and animal use in the United States -- although about 90 percent of
the ketamine legally sold today is intended for veterinary use, the report
stated.