Raves' fatal toll
The deadly mix of drugs and raves
Struggling local governments welcome large music events staged by L.A.-based promoters, but a review of coroner’s and law enforcement reports reveal a tragic pattern of drug overdoses. Below are 14 ravegoers who have died.
Read the full report: A fatal toll on concertgoers as raves boost cities’ income
Joshua Johnson, 18
Michelle Lee, 20
William On, 23
Michael Phuc Nguyen, 23
John Cramer, 23
Daniel Cyriaco, 24
Jesse Morales, 22
Sasha Rodriguez, 15
Andrew Graf, 19
Kyle Haigis, 22
Gregory Fitcher, 32
Emily McCaughan, 22
Olivier Hennessy, 31
Michael Benway Jr., 37
Joshua Johnson, 18
Joshua Johnson, 18, of El Cajon died Sept. 3, 2006, after collapsing at Insomniac Inc.’s Nocturnal Wonderland at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino. The Grossmont College student became separated from his friend during the rave, according to interviews and a coroner’s report, and was seen by onlookers having a seizure. The coroner’s office said his body temperature reached 107 degrees. It concluded that the cause of death was Ecstasy toxicity.
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Photo credit: Family photo |
Michelle Lee, 20
Michelle Lee, a 20-year-old UC Irvine student, died Nov. 2, 2007, after attending Go Ventures Inc.’s Halloween-themed Monster Massive at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. She collapsed at the rave and her body temperature rose to 108 degrees, according to the coroner report. The coroner ruled her death was caused by multiple drug toxicity, citing use of Ecstasy and amphetamines.
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Photo credit: California Department of Motor Vehicles |
William On, 23
William On, 23, of Monterey Park died Jan. 4, 2008, after overdosing at the Together as One rave at the Sports Arena. The New Year’s rave was jointly produced by Insomniac and Go Ventures. On suffered seizures during the concert and his temperature topped 107, the coroner found. The cause of death was Ecstasy intoxication, abnormally high temperature and multiorgan system failure.
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Photo credit: California Department of Motor Vehicles |
Michael Phuc Nguyen, 23
Michael Phuc Nguyen, a 23-year-old Anaheim resident, died Oct. 26, 2008, after attending Go Ventures’ Monster Massive rave held at the Sports Arena. Nguyen was found “face down and unresponsive,” the coroner report said. Nguyen never regained consciousness. The coroner attributed the death to multiple drug intoxication. Ecstasy and methamphetamine were found in his blood.
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Photo credit: California Department of Motor Vehicles |
John Cramer, 23
John Cramer, 23, a Pierce College student who lived in Canoga Park, died Sept. 27, 2009, after attending Nocturnal Festival at the National Orange Show Events Center. At the rave, his friends found him having seizure-like activity, the coroner’s report said. At the emergency room, his body temperature hit 107 degrees and his heart failed. The coroner said the cause of death was Ecstasy toxicity.
Daniel Cyriaco, 24
Daniel Cyriaco, 24, a Los Angeles computer programmer, died Jan. 1, 2010, after attending the Together as One rave at the Sports Arena. Cyriaco, who grew up in Beverly Hills and Brazil, was dropped off about 4 a.m. at his home, where a friend that evening found him unresponsive and cold to the touch. The coroner’s office concluded the cause of death was multiple drug intoxication. It said friends told investigators Cyriaco took Ecstasy at the rave. Ecstasy, cocaine and heroin were found in his system, according to the toxicology report
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Photo credit: California Department of Motor Vehicles |
Jesse Morales, 22
Jesse Morales, a 22-year-old Midwestern State University student from Garden City, Kan., died June 23, 2010, after going to Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival at Dallas’ Fair Park, home to the State Fair of Texas. The medical examiner said that Morales collapsed at the rave and was admitted to the emergency room with a temperature of 108 degrees. The medical examiner said Morales died as the result of amphetamine toxicity.
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Photo credit: Garden City Community College |
Sasha Rodriguez, 15
Sasha Rodriguez, 15, a high school drill team member from Los Angeles, died June 29, 2010, after attending Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Rodriguez passed out during the rave and was in respiratory arrest after arriving at the hospital, according to interviews and the coroner’s report. She suffered shocked lungs and brain damage, the report said. The cause of death was Ecstasy intoxication and a resulting failure to receive enough oxygen to the brain.
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Photo credit: Family photo |
Andrew Graf, 19
Andrew Graf, a 19-year-old Texas A&M sophomore from Argyle, Texas, died June 18, 2011, after attending Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival at Dallas’ Fair Park. The student told friends he was not feeling well. He had seizure activity and was in cardiac arrest by the time paramedics arrived, the medical examiner’s report said. It said that Graf “died as the result of toxic effects of amphetamine” and that Ecstasy was used at the rave.
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Photo credit: Texas Department of Public Safety |
Kyle Haigis, 22
Kyle Haigis, 22, of Sherman, Texas, died June 19, 2011, after leaving the Electric Daisy Carnival in Dallas. The former Arkansas Tech University student was in a friend’s car when he started acting irrationally, according to police. Haigis jumped out of the car and was struck by a semi, said John Cherry, police chief of Howe, Texas. A toxicology report showed that Haigis had “Foxy,” an illegal hallucinogen used at raves, in his system. A friend said Haigis took the drug at the rave, Cherry said.
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Photo credit: Texas Department of Public Safety |
Emily McCaughan, 22
Emily McCaughan, 22, of Scottsdale, Ariz., died June 11, 2012, after attending the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. According to news reports quoting a family friend, the University of Arizona student suffered paranoid delusions at the concert. Believing someone was after her, the reports said, she returned alone to her Circus Circus hotel room, sent panicked Facebook messages and apparently squeezed through the window, falling more than 20 stories to her death. A coroner’s official told The Times that McCaughan had Ecstasy, methamphetamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid in her system.
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Photo credit: Tarryn Mento / The Arizona Republic |
