Pubdate: Wed, 31 May 2006 Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT) Copyright: 2006 The Salt Lake Tribune Contact: http://www.sltrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383 Author: Stephen Hunt Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) TEEN DRUG DEATH: 'NO EXCUSE' Maximum Penalty For Abandoning Victim WEST JORDAN - While most other mothers were telling their daughters, "Just say no," Macall Petersen and her mom were using drugs together, her attorney said at a sentencing hearing Tuesday. And while another teen might have called 911 to save a best friend from overdosing, Macall Petersen let Amelia Sorich die last summer and then dumped the body in the hills above Bountiful. Third District Judge Royal Hansen said Petersen's troubled upbringing was "no excuse" for injecting Sorich with a fatal mixture of heroin and cocaine and then doing nothing when she passed out. "You abandoned your friend and failed to assist her in the hour of her greatest need. Friends don't do what you did to Amelia Sorich," Hansen said, handing down the maximum possible sentence of zero to six years in prison. Hansen recommended the 18-year-old Draper teen complete a prison drug treatment program, obtain her high school diploma and have no contact with her mother. "That has not been a good thing in your life," the judge said. Hansen went well beyond the recommendations of the defense and prosecution, which asked for a year in jail, probation and drug treatment. The parents of the victim said they hope the stiff sentence will allow them to move on. "It feels good to know [Petersen] will have to think about this for a long time," Kathryn Sorich told news reporters. Sorich had told the judge her 18-year-old daughter was bright, talented and always ready to help a friend in need. She said Amelia took a special interest in Petersen, even inviting the girl to stay with them after she absconded from a drug treatment program. "But the one time [Amelia] needed someone to take action on her behalf, where were you?" Sorich asked, glaring at Petersen. "What were you thinking?" Sorich said her only daughter's death has left her bereft and contemplating suicide. "I have nothing. We have nothing," Sorich said. "Pictures, memories, Macall. That's all we have left." Petersen, 18, pleaded guilty last month to negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor, and desecration of a dead human body, a third-degree felony. At that time, defense attorney Rudy Bautista said Petersen had twice injected Sorich with a so-called speedball, but he insisted Sorich had asked for the drugs. Bautista said that Petersen has "firsthand knowledge" of the drug mixture because her mother, "a lifelong drug addict," used them. "[Petersen] did drugs with her mother, which is appalling," he told the court. He said Petersen is now trying to change her life. AdvertisementShe has participated in a documentary about drug use in Utah and is willing to speak to high school students about "the horrors of drug use," he said. Reading from a prepared statement, Petersen said, "I want to give my deepest apology to Amelia's family." She said she cherished her memories of Amelia Sorich. "No one will ever be able to appreciate the friendship we had," Petersen said. After Sorich passed out and died at Petersen's Draper home the night of June 25, Petersen and her boyfriend, Jasen Calacino, 20, loaded the body into the victim's car and dumped it above Bountiful, where it was discovered two days later by a passer-by. The pair abandoned Sorich's car near a Salt Lake City business and threw her cell phone and purse into a trash bin. Prosecutor Sean Torriente said Petersen's motives were "selfish." He said Petersen believed reporting the overdose would violate her juvenile court probation, which, unbeknownst to her, had been terminated the day before. When Kathryn Sorich called Petersen the next day, Petersen claimed she had not seen Amelia. She later claimed Amelia had gone to a rave party. The details of Amelia Sorich's death were revealed only after Calacino turned himself into police. Calacino claims he argued with Petersen in favor of calling 911 and had attempted CPR on Sorich. The negligent homicide charge against Calacino has been dismissed, but he remains charged with desecration of a dead human body. Calacino is expected to resolve his case with a plea deal next month. Michael Sorich said the family had a closed-casket funeral because his daughter had been been dragged over rocks and bushes by Petersen and Calacino. "Her body was scratched, bruised and bloated," he told the judge. "That's what Macall did to me and my family." The father said he hopes Petersen's fate will send a message to others whose friends overdose on drugs. "If something like this happens, call 911." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman