Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jun 2011
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2011 The Calgary Sun
Contact:  http://www.calgarysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Author: Michael Wood, Calgary Sun

TEEN ARRESTED FOR SELLING DEADLY ECSTASY

Police have charged a Strathmore teen for dealing the dope believed to
have killed 15-year-old Jonathan Herrmann.

Herrmann, a football and basketball player popular among his peers at
Strathmore high school, died on June 3, the day he and his friend
Richard Mulvihill, 19, popped ecstasy pills at the Strathmore
Skateboard Park.

An ensuing RCMP investigation on Wednesday yielded the arrest of a
17-year-old Strathmore teen.

Sgt. Kevin Reilly said the youth, who cannot be named under provisions
of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was picked up at his Strathmore
home and charged with a single count of trafficking a controlled substance.

Reilly could neither comment on whether any ecstasy was recovered nor
the teen's relationship to Herrmann, saying only the pair were known
to each other.

RCMP are still investigating and awaiting toxicology results to
confirm if the drug, said to be yellow tablets imprinted with a design
portraying Mickey Mouse, contributed to the teen's death.

In an interview with the Sun, Mulvihill said he popped four pills
while Herrmann ingested eight.

He said the "dirty pills" have circulated within Strathmore for a few
weeks and Mounties suggested the pills may have been tainted with
additional chemicals.

"I've done (ecstasy) before and it was a lot different ... this hit me
so fast - it was almost like there was another drug in it to make it
kick in faster," Mulvihill told the Sun.

The 19-year-old was in Strathmore hospital soon after, fading in and
out of consciousness as his buddy Herrmann lay dying beside him after
taking eight pills.

 From his home in Strathmore, Herrmann's father Edward said news of
Wednesday's arrest has brought the family some relief.

"I'm glad they got one off the street," he said.

"I know it's a teen, I know he's under the age of 18. I am excited
they have found somebody that was (alledgedly) selling ecstasy in town
and that they've charged him, but I will reserve the rest of my
comments until they can prove it was the same person who dealt it to
our children, Richard and Jonathan," he said.

Hundreds of Herrmann's peers and family member are expected to attend
the boy's service, which begins at 1 p.m. on Friday at the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Strathmore. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.