DEATH TOUCHES 2 SCHOOLS

Campuses Affected By Eighth-Grader's `Ecstasy' Overdose

At Belmont's Ralston Middle School, students plastered the courtyard
Thursday with doodle-hearted messages to Irma Perez, an eighth-grade
classmate who died this week from an ``ecstasy'' overdose. At nearby
Carlmont High School, students were discussing the news that a senior
there had allegedly supplied the drug.

As parents agonize over why middle-school girls at a slumber party
would experiment with a dangerous drug, San Mateo County prosecutors
are weighing whether to file more serious felony charges against two
young men they say provided the ecstasy.

The 17-year-old boy and [DELETE], 20, both of Belmont, were
arrested during the weekend on suspicion of supplying drugs to a
minor. Those charges could be increased to include involuntary
manslaughter, prosecutors said. The Mercury News is not naming the
17-year-old because he is a juvenile.

The San Mateo County coroner performed an autopsy Thursday on Irma,
14, but is awaiting a toxicology report before determining what caused
Irma's death. The report can take up to two weeks, and Deputy Chief
District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said prosecutors need to know the
results before making their decision.

``If she died of a heart attack, we aren't going to prosecute for
murder,'' he said. ``We have to find out what she died of.''

Irma was one of three girls who took the party drug ecstasy during a
Friday night slumber party; the girls had obtained the drugs after
school that day. She was discovered unconscious Saturday morning and
rushed to Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital. She remained in
critical condition until Wednesday night, when her family took her off
life support. Seven organs were donated after doctors determined they
were suitable for transplant.

Irma was an average student who loved music and was loyal to her small
group of friends, school officials and classmates said. Her mother
died a few years ago and she and her siblings were being raised by an
older sister. Their father's whereabouts are unclear.

Family struggling

Teachers and students wanted to start a memorial fund for the girl,
but the family declined. They also asked the school not to distribute
the girl's photo, said Principal Debbie Ferguson, who has been in
contact with them. Irma's little sister also attends Ralston, and an
older sister also had attended.

``It's so hard. They're in total pain,'' she said. ``They lost one of
their little girls.''

Ralston students grieved in their own way. Some spoke with counselors,
other scrawled ``Irma, RIP'' on their arms and faces. Many wrote notes
to a ``sweet, nice, beautiful angel'' whose photo -- where she sported
long, glossy dark hair and carefully lined eyes -- hung throughout the
school's quad.

``Everyone was surprised that she had done it because she doesn't seem
like'' the type of person, said Becca Bauer, a friend.

Throughout this hilly town, everyone is talking.

The 17-year-old Carlmont High School senior met the girls through
mutual friends in the area, according to another senior who knows him.
He is a good student, an avid soccer player and a nice guy who started
hanging out with ``the wrong crowd,'' she said. He is in custody in
juvenile hall.

It is unclear how the teen knows Rivera, who is in county jail and has
a pretrial hearing set May 18.

On his apartment application form at the modest Catania Regency
Apartments on Irene Court in Belmont, Rivera wrote that he was a
waiter at a Mexican restaurant in Belmont. Building manager Pattie
Greene said he lived alone in a $850-a-month unit. Rivera had moved
into the unit in March, writing on his application that he last lived
in Folsom and that his current job as a waiter paid $1,000 a month.

When Rivera's room key got stuck in the lock and broke, he called
Greene for help. She had someone fix the lock and sent Rivera a bill
for the work. He paid immediately in person, Greene said.

``He is very, very, very soft-spoken and likable,'' Greene said. ``I
couldn't believe it when I heard it. I thought it's got to be wrong.''

Report awaited

Marsha Rosenbaum, director of the Safety First project of the
Sacramento-based Drug Policy Alliance, said the community will be in
limbo until the medical examiner's report is released.

``It's difficult to figure out what to do without knowing what
happened,'' said Rosenbaum, who educates Bay Area teenagers and
parents about drug abuse. ``At this point, there are so many more
questions than answers.'' Rosenbaum said she spent much of Thursday on
the phone with ecstasy experts, trying to figure out why, of the three
girls, only Irma died after taking the drug.

Ecstasy, which is normally found in a pill form, is often geared to
attract youths with bright colors or imprinted smiley faces and
cartoon characters, said Trisha Sanchez with the San Mateo County
Narcotics Task Force. Although it is not one of the county's top drug
seizures, it is popular among youths and young adults, she said.

The morning after Irma's death, the superintendent of the district
that oversees Ralston Middle School urged authorities to prosecute the
suspects ``to the fullest extent.''

``I view drugs like a loaded gun -- and loaded guns kill people all
the time,'' John McIntosh said Thursday, speaking for himself, not
the school board. ``This drug killed one of our 14-year-old
students.''

Mercury News Staff Writers Jessica Portner and Nicole C. Wong
contributed to this report.