Leander Independent School District has lost its third high school student in just more than a month. This is now a suspicious death investigation.
Sheriff's detectives say alcohol and drugs were at the party where it all started, but that is not why it is considered suspicious. The 15-year-old victim suffered what investigators say is a significant skull fracture, and so far the stories they are getting from those at the party do not add up.
Amanda De La Torre died Monday at St. David's Round Rock Medical Center. The Travis County medical examiner told investigators she died from a significant head injury she suffered while attending a party on Magenta Sky Trail in Steiner Ranch a week and a half ago. Investigators referred to it as a juvenile drug and alcohol party.
"We don't believed she overdosed," said Roger Wade, the Public Information Officer for the Travis County Sheriff's Office.
However, investigators say the fact that drugs and alcohol were present at the party may have been the reason the 911 call was not made until at least eight hours after De La Torre's injury.
"We think she felt the effects of it (skull fracture) right away," said Wade. "But the kids, for fear of being caught at a party where drugs and alcohol were being consumed, didn't immediately call 911."
"How you could worry about yourself more than you worry about the safety of someone else?" asked Brian Yoes, a recent Leander ISD graduate. "That's just really hard to understand."
At Vandegrift High School, where De La Torre was a freshman, recent Leander ISD graduates like Brian Yoes and parents like Wade Threadgill expressed their concerns.
"Our hearts go out to the family obviously," said Threadgill. "But you want your kids to be able to call you when something goes wrong no matter what's going on."
The Travis County Sheriff's Office will be working with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to determine who supplied the alcohol. But investigators say right now the focus is not on the alcohol or drugs at the party, but how De La Torre died.
"I'm not going to say we are going to file murder charges against anybody, but we need to figure out what happened," said Wade. "Then we'll face what the consequences are later. Right now everybody is culpable."
The medical examiner conducted an autopsy on De La Torre Monday, but the toxicology results will not be known for more several days. Those tests will reveal if she had any drugs or alcohol in her system when she suffered her head injury.
