RINGGOLD, Ga. — The sudden deaths of two Ringgold High School students in less than a month is fueling concern that teens are gaining access to potent prescription medicine.
Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers said Monday that police are investigating the drug link, but there is no official cause of death in either case.
Timothy Lebron Smith, 16, was found dead Saturday morning at a friend’s house where he had spent the night. Mitchell Lankford, 15, died Feb. 13 after his parents found him unconscious in his bedroom.
“It’s premature to say what a cause of death is until we know for sure,” Sheriff Summers said.
But the sheriff said an educational outreach is needed to stem community fears.
“We are looking at what occurred, what happened, and what can we do, not only as an agency but with the school system, to try to educate these kids to make sure they know what is going on,” Sheriff Summers said.
“People are anticipating that this may be drug related, and we are thinking ahead of the game and what can we do to cut some of this off in the future,” he said.
Randy Lankford said he does not know what caused his son’s death, but he said news of the second Ringgold High School student’s death alarmed him.
“They need to get to the bottom of whatever it is,” Mr. Lankford said.
Sheriff Summers said the teenagers died under the “same scenario,” but he said the two cases don’t appear to be linked by anything other than coincidence.
“The deaths, specifically, are very similar to each other. But they weren’t best friends,” the sheriff said. “These two deaths weren’t connected to each other. We are investigating them independently.”
Sheriff Summers said parents of Ringgold High School students should not be alarmed.
Marissa Chambers, spokeswoman for Catoosa County Schools, said the school system is working with the sheriff “to see what we can do” in the investigation.
“We want to do whatever we can for our students,” Ms. Chambers said.
