May 01, 2007
18-Year-Old Honor Student Dies At Prom Party, Not Discovered For Hours
Leland Martin, 18, was an honors student.
By GEORGE CHIDI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/30/07
The prom after-party in Auburn ended with Leland Martin's body lying forgotten in the living room. Barrow County medical staff found the 18-year-old Winder-Barrow High School student dead at the scene around 12:15 p.m. Sunday. The night before, he and his classmates had been celebrating their upcoming graduation at the house on Quail Trail Road.
By the time a fellow party-goer found him, Martin had probably been dead for hours, said Ronnie Hutchins, a deputy coroner for Barrow County.
Someone forgot a cell phone from the night before and went back to the house, Hutchins said. Hutchins didn't know who it was that found Martin.
"[Martin] was laying in a position like he was sleeping," Hutchins said. But the person who found Martin noticed that he wasn't breathing.
That person retrieved the missing cell phone and dialed 911. An ambulance arrived a few minutes later. Property records show the house is owned by Christopher and Barbara Michael. No one answered at the Michael residence. When reached by phone, Barbara Michael hung up after a reporter identified himself.
Barrow County Sheriff's Office announced Monday that alcohol had been consumed at the party and that Martin had been in a fight with someone at the event. Sheriff's Office officials did not return calls seeking further comment on the case.
Hutchins said an initial autopsy did not indicate Martin had died of injuries from the fight. Toxicology tests might take as much as three months for results, he said. "It's sit and wait now."
Neighbors said the party had been loud for most of the night. Angela Higbee, a next-door-neighbor, heard shouting and crying around 3 a.m., she said.
"It sounded like a group of people were disturbed," Higbee said. But loud parties were common next door, she said. "I've heard this stuff before. But I almost got up. I wish I had."
Fellas, this is going to be sad. A huge, house party, underage drinking, the kid passes out and dies, and it seems like everyone just thought he was passed out and left him. The owners of this home are in a world of trouble. Thoughts?
I find it interesting how the media highlights that he was an "honors student." Are "honors student" supposed to be different from other students in situations like this?
Posted by anthony at May 1, 2007 09:05 AM | TrackBack"honors student": someone with so much more hope and promise than just your ordinary graduate, such that the person reading this article should feel much more pain and sadness upon hearing of this student's death.
My husband Clay told me about a book you recommended in your class last night, The Price of Privilege. The topic sounds relevant to this situation, perhaps, and I'm looking forward to reading it.
Cheers, from a non-fella!
Posted by: Renae at May 1, 2007 12:36 PMwell, it's a fair assumption to say that *less* honors students than non-honors students would drink, percentage-wise.
I'm not sure if that is actually borne out by the facts, but it seems a safe bet.
Posted by: shawn at May 1, 2007 01:33 PMIt sort of makes you question the validity of not letting "underage" kids drink. Here in Guatemala, while not always a good thing, drinking is not a taboo that makes you go overboard every chance you get.
Posted by: Juan Callejas at May 1, 2007 01:41 PMI don't know that honors students are less likely to imbibe; I vividly remember honors students when I was growing up smoking jimson weed, which can lead to heart attacks, even among the young.
So to suggest that smart gets are wise enough to avoid stupid stuff like this is a stretch, IMO.
I think Juan's point is good, though. If you want someone to pass out and be left alone to die, one can do no better than to refuse to allow kids to learn to drink with their families. Push 'em out and make sure they're hiding what they're doing from the world.
Posted by: Robert Perry at May 1, 2007 03:38 PMI happen to be a member of Mensa and I can tell you that there are plenty of dysfunctional smart people out there. In fact, I have sometimes wondered if being smart is more of a curse, but that's another subject.
I agree with Juan and Robert that an unrealistic drinking age of 21 is part of the problem. The legislature passes these moronic laws and is then shocked -- shocked! -- when nobody pays any attention. Of course kids are going to drink, and better they be supervised when they do.
But that's part of a bigger problem which is moralizing trumping reality. It's the same with the war on drugs. Treating drugs as a health problem instead of criminalizing it would do wonders for reducing drug use. We know what conditions would be like if drugs were legal because at one time they were; it wasn't until the 1930s that they were banned. And guess what? The addiction rate went up almost as soon as the bans took effect.
Posted by: NI at May 2, 2007 04:34 AMNot sure we can simply blame a high drinking age of 21, though I think that lowering it would help. Here in Germany, kids can drink beer at 16 and liquor at 18. Drinking isn't taboo. But that didn't stop a 15 year-old from taking 15 shots of Tequilla in an hour and dying of alcohol poisoning a few weeks ago. There's definitely a bigger problem than just the drinking age.
Posted by: Josh at May 2, 2007 10:41 AMRicardo Arjona, a Guatemalan singer has a song that critiques the US called "Si el Norte fuera el Sur" (If the North were the South) and one of the lines he wrote says: "at 18 you're still a kid for a drink at a bar, but you're a man for killing and for war". Things to think about.
Posted by: Juan Callejas at May 2, 2007 03:46 PM