4 CHARGED IN RAPE-DRUG DEATH

DETROIT, MICHIGAN -- Police on Monday issued warrants charging four suburban
males with manslaughter and poisoning in the death of a teenage girl whose
alcoholic drink allegedly was spiked with a "date-rape" drug.

Wayne County prosecutors authorized the warrants two months after
15-year-old Samantha Reid and two other girls became ill at ta mid-January
party on Grosse Ile, an affluent island community on the Detroit River.

Police Chief William Barron said the warrants accuse the four unidentified
suspects of three counts each of poisoning and one count each of
manslaughter.

At least one was in police custody. Authorities said two others were
expected to surrender. All are from the Downriver area south of Detroit.

One suspect, who Barron said rented the apartment where the party was held,
also was accused of delivery of marijuana and of possessing a controlled
substance, gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.

The poisoning charges were sought after investigators determined that Reid
and the two other girls were given alcoholic drinks laced with GHB.

Reid went into a coma and died one day after consuming the drink. Another
girl was treated and released. A third girl got sick but did not require
hospital treatment.

Medical and law enforcement experts say victims can lose consciousness
within 20 minutes after ingesting GHB. The next morning, victims often have
no memory of what happened, and the drug is difficult to trace, often
leaving the body within 24 hours.