VIGIL HELD FOR ECSTASY VICTIMS

Second Teenaged Girl Dies In Hospital

Two teenaged girls from the Paul Band First Nation have died after
taking ecstasy at a wedding party.

Leah Dominique House, 14, was taken off life support Wednesday at the
Stollery Children's Hospital. Trinity Bird, 15, died the previous night.

"We're not doing OK, but life has to go on," said Dennis Bird, who is
Trinity's uncle and Leah's grandfather.

An estimated 70 people, including about 30 teenaged girls, many in
tears, gathered Wednesday night at a golf club on the reserve west of
Edmonton to light candles and say prayers in memory of Trinity and
Leah.

Nine girls took the pills at a party Saturday night. RCMP were called
after two of them collapsed and two others needed medical attention.

A pair of Trinity's friends who attended Wednesday's vigil said they
were told Leah and Trinity each took five pills before slipping into
comas.

Teri-Lynn Adams, 17, said both girls were acting normally when she saw
them at the dance.

"I couldn't stay very long, but when I saw them, they were happy,
dancing, laughing, gossiping -- doing what teenagers do," Adams said.
"When we heard what happened later, it was like an earthquake. It
shocked the whole community."

Band spokesman Dennis Paul said grief and drug counsellors have spread
out across the reserve and into the surrounding schools.

Two members of the RCMP spent Wednesday at the Paul Band School
talking about illicit drugs.

Trinity's boyfriend, Harold Gadwa, said he was with her when her heart
stopped.

"I never gave up on her," he said in an e-mail. "I kept repeating, 'I
got your hand and you got mine. I promise we will make it through.'
"

He described Trinity as a one-in-a-million girl who always had a smile
on her face. Others said she wasn't the type to get mixed up in drugs.

Daron Rain-Kootenay, 15, who was classmates with Trinity at Memorial
Composite High School in Stony Plain, described her friend as an
outgoing type who loved sports and music.

"Every time we were around her, her cellphone was going off, playing
random songs," said Rain-Kootenay, who cried through much of the
vigil. "She was funny. She always had a joke to make you laugh."

Vigil organizers said the entire community was in shock over the
deaths, particularly young people.

"Nothing like this has ever happened here," said Doris Rain. "We are
all affected, even if we are not closely related to the girls."

A member of the crisis team, Virginia Rain, called the tragedy a
"wakeup call," suggesting the community needed to get more proactive
in dealing with drugs. She said more funding was needed to properly
train and hire counsellors to work with young people on the reserve.

Traces of ecstasy were found in the blood of both girls, but there was
no sign of poison, according to RCMP.

One legal expert said that even if the person who provided the drugs
is found, it's unlikely a murder charge would stick.

"For a murder charge, the accused would have to have sold them the
drugs intending to kill them or intending to cause them bodily harm
that was likely to cause them death," said Sanjeev Anand, a professor
of criminal law at the University of Alberta.

"Even if he knew the drugs might be tainted, I think it would be very
difficult to make out the intent.

"In all likelihood, if they do find the guy, if he doesn't have any
special knowledge, he's looking at a charge of trafficking in a
controlled drug or substance."

FATAL HISTORY

At least five teen girls have died in Canada over the past four years
after taking ecstasy.

- - On March 24, 2008, Trinity Bird, 15, died in an Edmonton hospital
three days after taking ecstasy at a party.

- - The next morning, Leah Dominique House, 14, who took the same drug
at the same party, was removed from life support and died.

- - On Feb. 6, 2008, a 13-year-old girl from Rigaud, Que., died after
trying ecstasy during a sleepover. She first slipped into a coma, then
died several days later.

- - A Toronto teen died July 19, 2006, with multiple organ failure after
two other teens sold her ecstasy. She collapsed in a Zellers parking
lot. The teens were later arrested.

- - A 16-year-old girl from Beaumont died on July 13, 2005, two days
after she took ecstasy. It had just come to town a few days earlier,
her friend said.