One day after a Dunwoody High School student collapsed in front of her classmates and later died, police arrested and charged a youth with involuntary manslaughter, officials said Tuesday.
Police did not announce the name or age of the person charged in the death of 15-year-old Mia Dieguez, who suffered what Principal Tom Bass described as a “medical emergency” as students were taking end-of-year exams Monday.
The suspect, who was arrested by DeKalb County School District police and taken to the DeKalb Regional Youth Detention Center, was also charged with reckless conduct, the school district confirmed in a statement.
“Due to the individual’s status as a minor, their personally identifiable information will not be disclosed,” the statement added.
It’s unclear if that person is a student. Police declined to disclose any details about the case and deferred comment to the school district spokesperson.
The victim’s sister, Pamela Dieguez, had posted on Facebook earlier in the day that the family was “getting justice for my baby sister” after the arrest was announced.
When reached Tuesday afternoon by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution while at a funeral home, she declined to provide details about the death but said there were “people putting out their own opinion” about what happened and she was “tired of hearing more” about her loved one.
Family members suggested on social media that Mia Dieguez died after she purchased fentanyl-laced drugs from someone at the school. They were waiting for a toxicology report and have called for a thorough investigation. The school district spokesperson declined to comment on the allegation that drugs were involved.
“As noted in the correspondence (from Bass), neither the district nor the school will be providing additional information regarding this student’s passing at this time,” spokesperson Donald Porter told the AJC.
On Tuesday morning, the county medical examiner’s office said it was conducting an examination into her death, but stated a few hours later there would be no official cause released at this time. Due to the victim being underage, the office added that the case would be pending further “testing, records review and investigative information.”
Family members told Channel 2 Action News that, according to school officials, Mia left class to use the restroom Monday, and when she returned, she put her head on her desk. Then, she was suddenly on the floor. Mia later died at the hospital, the news station reported.
The teenager was a “loving and caring person” who had plans to join the military, according to a GoFundMe page organized by another sister, Paola Covarrubias, to help the family with funeral and other expenses. It had raised more than $15,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
“We unfortunately lost our sister Mia to the epidemic of fentanyl-laced drugs,” Covarrubias wrote.
The principal did not offer any additional information about the circumstances surrounding the incident. Additional counselors were available at the school starting Tuesday.
As students left school Tuesday afternoon, Dunwoody senior John Henriquez said the student body’s mood was muted. He admitted it was common to see students misbehaving in the school’s bathrooms, but said the rumors of a student dying from a potential drug overdose were new.
“This is the first time (something like this) has happened while I’ve been here,” Henriquez said. “It’s really common when you walk into the restrooms, you see people smoking and stuff. But this is a pretty new thing.”
Students described how the school’s administrators tried to combat illegal activity and drug use. Their efforts included a two-day, anti-drug assembly completed at the end of last week, according to senior Mikayla Terry. Students are limited in the amount of time they can spend in bathrooms, and only six students are allowed inside at a time, she said.
Still, Terry noted that “it’s almost impossible to have complete monitoring of the bathrooms.”
Henriquez said he didn’t personally know the victim because of their age difference, but he said her death brought a somber note to the end of the school year.
James McGrone, a junior, knew Mia and agreed with the sentiment.
“We were pretty cool, we talked,” McGrone said, adding that he’d taken a class with Mia the previous semester. “It just doesn’t feel real. It’ll probably hit me when I think about it and sit back.”
Some students said they planned to add flowers and stuffed animals to a memorial inside the school.
According to Channel 2, Mia was “the baby of the family,” with her other siblings about four or five years older than her.
“It brings great pain to family and friends and she will be greatly missed,” Covarrubias said.
— Staff writer Henri Hollis contributed to this article.
