WINNIPEG (CP) - A 19-year-old boy who attended a party where a 16-year-
old girl died from an apparent drug overdose - including Ecstasy - says
he and his friends were afraid to call for help out of fear they would
get into trouble with police.

Tony Codeco said he saw Becky Ducharme dig into a bag containing
morphine and Tylenol 3 tablets and pop several of them into her mouth.

He said the person who was throwing the weekend party screamed at her
to get rid of the pills, but by then Ducharme began to fall asleep.
People at the party put her into a tub of cold water to rouse her, but
when that failed they decided that instead of calling for help they
would put her to bed in the hope she would sleep it off.

Ducharme died later in hospital.

Police Sgt. Gordon Hudson said Wednesday the case is still being
investigated and no charges have been laid.

"But at this point, it appears that we will be treating it as a death
by misadventure," said Hudson. "There's no evidence to show coercion or
force."

Ducharme's aunt Tuesday described the girl as a high-achieving Grade 12
student who was active in church, dance and theatre groups as well as
figure skating.

"She must have got around someone she shouldn't have," said the aunt,
who didn't want her named used. "If she knew what it was she wouldn't
have taken it."

But the Winnipeg Free Press quoted an unnamed source Wednesday as
saying Ducharme was no stranger to drugs.

"This wasn't just a saint kid," said the woman, the mother of the girl
who watched over Ducharme after she passed out at the party.

"Both of them were into the wrong crowd."

The woman said her daughter, who stays in a group home under the care
of Child and Family Services, is being held in observation at a crisis
stabilization unit at Marymound Treatment Centre to help her cope with
Ducharme's death.

The woman said her daughter told her that she and Ducharme bought a hit
of Ecstasy before heading to the party, where they smoked a joint of
marijuana and Ducharme dug into the bag of pills.