Pubdate: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 Source: Mississauga News (CN ON) Copyright: The Mississauga News 2001 Contact: http://www.mississauganews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/268 Author: Louie Rosella Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) TEEN DIED AT CAFE; MISSISSAUGA MAN CHARGED IN TO ECSTASY DEATH MISSISSAUGA -- A Mississauga man acting as manager of a Toronto Internet cafe where a teen girl died Saturday has been charged in connection with her death. Johnrex Bernandino, 29, of Gatineau Ave., has been charged with criminal negligence causing death and trafficking in a controlled substance. Bernandino was the acting manager of the Alphalounge on Bloor St. W. near Bathurst St. where Nicole Malik, 17, collapsed on a couch and was found Dec. 1 by a customer. Toronto police suspect she took two "hits" of the illegal drug ecstasy prior to her death. Detective Daryle Gerry said she was dead before an ambulance arrived. Also charged with criminal negligence causing death was Paul Busch, 19, of Toronto, also an employee at the 24-hour cafe. Gerry said Malik, who had recently moved to Toronto from the Barrie area to live with her brother, was friends with Busch and an acquaintance of Bernandino's. Police allege the ecstasy Malik took was made available at the cafe. Brian Lee, owner of Alphalounge, said he asked his "good friend" Bernandino, who lives with his family in the Eglinton Ave. and Central Pkwy. area, to manage the cafe while he took a month's vacation to visit Korea. "I knew his (Bernandino's) family, I knew his nieces and I trusted him," Lee said in a phone interview yesterday. "He wasn't working. He was going through a hard time, so I thought I'd help him out. He seemed to have good management skills." Lee said both men were "released" before charges were laid. A notice now placed near the cafe entrance warned that "any member caught in possession of narcotics will be permanently banned from entering," adding the establishment is a drug-free environment. Gerry said an ambulance should have been provided earlier for the teenager. A friend of Malik, who didn't want her name used, said the honour roll student didn't use drugs before the weekend tragedy. Gerry indicated police are confident that she's relatively new to the drug. Known as a designer drug, ecstasy usually appears in the form of tablets. It's a hallucinogen that produces a strong sense of pleasure and feelings of euphoria, but can be fatal since it causes severe dehydration and can prohibit the body's ability to regulate body temperature. Drug test results from Malik's death are not expected for several weeks. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl