GIRL'S SLOW DRUG DEATH DESCRIBED

After swallowing an "ecstasy" pill at a Belmont slumber party, Irma Perez
complained of a headache and said her throat felt like that of a "dead
person." She was convinced she was going to die, and she asked two friends
at the party to tell her family goodbye and that she loved them.

She didn't go quickly, according to court testimony Wednesday from Belmont
police officers, who offered the most detailed accounting yet of the April
death that shocked parents and teachers across the Peninsula.

Throughout that long April night, police testified, Irma suffered
convulsions, vomited about 20 times, complained of headaches and pleaded
for water and fresh air. She grew dizzy and stopped talking, though she
moaned all night and sometimes screamed. But none of her friends called
911. And apparently, none of the grown-ups at the house heard a thing.

She was declared brain dead that weekend, and days later was taken off life
support. She was 14.

The dramatic testimony from Belmont officers came in San Mateo County
juvenile court, where a 17-year-old who allegedly gave Irma and the other
girls drugs is being held on seven charges, including involuntary manslaughter.

The officers' stories -- based on eyewitness interviews -- offer a glimpse
of a group of drug-savvy teenagers and clueless adults.

The officers told of drug dealings that occurred inside the teenager's
home, and of how one of the parents spotted the ecstasy pill that night --
nestled in a well-folded plastic bag -- but was told by one of the girls it
was for allergies. Police also described how at one point during the night,
the accused dealer and two other teenage boys arrived to help the ailing
Irma -- but that none of the three adults at the house seemed to notice all
the activity downstairs.

In an effort to help their friend, the girls gave Irma a bath and offered
her bread, water, Advil and marijuana.

Several of the teens suggested calling for medical help, but none of them
would summon an adult.

Dr. K. Leslie Avery, who later treated Irma at Lucile Salter Packard
Children's Hospital at Stanford, said if the girl had received timely care,
"there's a significant likelihood she'd be alive today."

The 17-year-old is the only one of five people charged in connection with
Irma's death who has not yet reached a plea agreement. On Monday, Antonio
Rivera, 20, pleaded no contest to three felony drug counts for giving the
ecstasy to the 17-year-old, who in turn allegedly sold it to the middle
school girls.

The two 14-year-old girls were sentenced earlier this summer to six months
of therapeutic detention in juvenile hall. And last month, Angelique
Malabey, 18, was sentenced to six months in jail and three years probation
for trying to help Rivera hide drugs after Irma's death.

In addition to drug charges, the 17-year-old faces an involuntary
manslaughter charge because, prosecutors say, he knew Irma was in distress
after taking the ecstasy but didn't summon help. The teenager's lawyer,
Vincent O'Malley, said it was unfair for the district attorney to single
out his client for the manslaughter charge.

"I'm not suggesting my client is to be absolved, but there are a lot of
fingers to be pointed," O'Malley said.

He suggested that the parents of the girl who hosted the party were also
responsible because they discovered at 5:40 a.m. that Irma was sick, but
didn't call her sister until 7 a.m. Irma's sister, Imelda Perez, said that
after she arrived at the house, the parents told her not to call 911 but to
just take her sister away.

Reached at home Wednesday, the girl's parents declined to comment on that
accusation. But during court testimony, Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth
Raffaelli rebutted O'Malley's time line, saying cell phone records
indicated the parents didn't know Irma was sick until about 6:44 a.m.

"This man should have done something and he didn't," Raffaelli said of the
17-year-old. "And that makes him responsible."

If Judge Marta Diaz decides he should not be tried as an adult, the boy
faces a maximum sentence of three years if convicted of all charges in
juvenile court. If tried and convicted as an adult, he could receive up to
15 years.