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A Pollock Pines boy died Sept. 9 after using a new, illegal drug.
El Dorado County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a medical call in the early morning hours of Sept. 9, a press release stated. The deputies found a 15-year-old boy, identified as Alejandro Nunez Avila, who was not breathing. Medics arrived and took over life-saving efforts before the boy was transporting to Marshall Hospital in Placerville, where he was pronounced as deceased.
Further investigation led deputies and detectives to believe the El Dorado High School student had voluntarily taken an unknown hallucinogenic drug. What the drug was, where it came from and the exact cause of death were unknown at the time.
Follow-up by sheriff’s narcotics detectives uncovered a new drug being introduced to the United States that reacts similarly to a hallucinogen. Known as 2-CB, 2-Cl or 2-5Bomb, the drug was developed in Germany for medical purposes and is believed to be produced outside the U.S. It can be found in liquid or powder form, as a tab or blotter on a piece of paper. It is clear in color and can be difficult to see.
The quality and potency of the new drug has not been tested or regulated, causing use of the drug to be hazardous.
Ongoing investigation led to the arrests of Jesse Howard Roberts, 21, and Elijah Lee Richter, 20, both of Camino, for their suspected involvement. Both were booked on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter.
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eSeptember 11, 2012 - 1:08 pm
ollie was my son's friend,he did not deserve this, as far as the other two that were arrested and has sense been released, shame on you. i have been told by family that elijah has been dealing drugs down by the bences in placerville ca,for a very long time, i have seen placerville police there once in awhile but just not enough,some how i found out if you want drugs this is who you see or this is where you go,i'm sure elijah will be peddling his drugs to pay for his attorney, my question is who going to be representing ollie avila, may he rest in peace, my condolences to his mom and family and friends,ollie did not deserve this.
anonomousSeptember 11, 2012 - 1:57 pm
I am family of jesse's and ollie did not deeserve this and niether does jesse, I don't know the other man personally but I do know that jesse was VERY good friends with ollie and loved and cared for him deeply all of our hearts thoughts and prayers go out to the families involved, I just pray that ollies friends can learn from his misttakes and possibly that a life could be spared by the knowledge of his death. Ollie R.I.P. the lord is with u know, no more pain..... the blame doesn't lye on one or two people there is blame to be spread all around this could have been prevented, but his action were his choice it jus breaks my heart that not only has jesse lost a very close friend but also that he is being blamed.... Ollie and Jesse I love u both dearly and may god have mercy on your souls.
vanessaSeptember 12, 2012 - 9:11 am
One of those hangs out at our parks in town. I've seen him there while trying to take my young children outside to play in Placerville. I do hope we can do something about the amount of scum in this town so that we don't have yet another generation of drug addict losers roaming Placerville at their leisure. My condolences to the parents of the victim; these are scary, trying times to be a parent. I feel so terrible for your loss.
Clara HeisenburgSeptember 12, 2012 - 11:35 am
Oh yes, Jesse SHOULD be ashamed. He sold the killer drug to this child. Friend or not, he (alledgedly) sold Ollie a drug that was harmful, that killed him. They have both been seen hanging at the park and selling drugs to the youth. HE IS TO BLAME. Not totally, but partially. HE IS A DRUG DEALER.....what's not to blame?
anonymousSeptember 12, 2012 - 12:23 pm
I am also a family memeber of Jesse Roberts and would like to make a few things clear. I understand that this is a horrible thing that has happened and people should be punished for their actions but whoever is saying that Jesse hangs out at parks and deals drugs does not know him at all. Anyone who knows him knows that he rarely leaves his house. He is a good guy who is accused of making a big mistake!
Barbara RogersSeptember 12, 2012 - 9:29 pm
A 15 year old boy is dead and why? Because someone introduced him to this horrible drug. This child attended school with my 15 year old grandson and his friend is dead. These 2 people are 20 and 21. Do you think that they influenced this young man? Of course they did, for God's sake when is the madness going to stop. The law enforcement in this county and the city of Placerville need to start getting tough with the drug pushers and the users. What park are these people hanging at? City Park on Benham Street?
Barbara RogersSeptember 12, 2012 - 9:30 pm
My thoughts and prayers go out to this child's family. I am so sorry.
HeisenbergSeptember 13, 2012 - 9:58 am
They sold him it, they didn't make him take it. If someone sells rat poison at a store, and someone takes it to commit suicide, who is to blame?
anonymousSeptember 13, 2012 - 11:55 am
Well. I mostly agree with the final comment. People dont know how some things will affect your body, and when you take a "research chemical" you are assuming a voluntary risk because you're not sure how it will affect you or if you have previous problems that could react with it in an unsavory way, there has been no autopsy report released and there is no solid proof that that was what caused ollies death, there are too many rumors about what really happened and the news need to get their facts straight before they post a front page story, for instance all three names that they gave for the substance were different substances, all of you need to do some research before you start pointing fingers and naming names. The news media tends to be inaccurate, and we should have learned that by now.
LocalSeptember 13, 2012 - 4:02 pm
I am a local and I would like to say that I agree with the last two comments. People who choose for themselves to experiment with any kind of mind altering substance and accepting the inherent risk involved with those activities. It is tragic that this young boy died from a stupid mistake but I do not think it is right to railroad the two suspects because the town is outraged. We are so quick to find a scapegoat and from a lynch mob. The most important fact is that we don't know if the substance was a direct contributer to the boys death. This article was written with little research, that is obvious. All those substances they listed are different compounds and this is not a new drug. It has been around since the 80s and closely mimics mescaline (or peyote). My last point is that these were not some wild poison drugs. I would assume people all over the area used the same batch that came to town and they are not dropping like flies. If this young man did pass as a direct result of the substance, then he was very very reckless with them and took far more than he ever should have. This is such a sad story but it pains me that we are willing to destroy two other peoples lives because we want to blame someone other than the young man who took the drugs.
robertdnollSeptember 13, 2012 - 7:12 pm
local writes"took far more than he ever should have".is there an amount of drugs that people use to get stoned that's just right?
Barbara RogersSeptember 13, 2012 - 9:16 pm
You people need to get a grip on this situation. This boy was 15 and 2 grown men, ages 20 and 21 are involved in the selling of this crap. You don't think that they said, oh come on now, it will be okay. A 15 year old looks up to older guys, it is normal behavior for young boys. I am from the 60's people and they said same about LSD and other hallucinogenics, oh it won't hurt you. Luckily for me I never chose to do drugs. Do you think this kid chose to die? Nope, do you think he chose to do drugs? Perhaps, but I am blaming the pushers. Did they encourage him, I am sure they did. Money Money is what it all about. These guys did the crime, now they can pay the price in prison. I have no sympathy for either one of them.
Don't Believe What You ReadSeptember 13, 2012 - 9:28 pm
My heart breaks for everyone involved. But why is the media not reporting that this took place at a house party, where the parents were present? Who supplied the alcohol? Where are their mug shots?
localSeptember 13, 2012 - 9:45 pm
All I was trying to allude to is that if many people took the same thing with no damaging or fatal results. Then there was negligence on the part of the substance user. That is true with any substance you put into your body. You can take too much aspirin or drink too much caffeine. We are in control of our own choices and this young man made a poor one. People want to just jump to conclusions about how this all happened without having any evidence. What if they didn't persuade him to try the drug. What if this 15 year boy liked experimenting with drugs and sought these two individuals out. If the other comment about it being at a house party is true and alcohol was mixed with it, that could have been what killed him. My main point is everyone wants to make up a tale in their mind to fit their version of the truth. There can only be one truth and we don't know what it is yet. Charging to other young men with manslaughter and worse, demonizing them in their own community before we even have an autopsy or any solid evidence is very irresponsible.
SteveSeptember 13, 2012 - 10:11 pm
I agree with local. It was his choice to use the drug, whether that be looking up to older guys or whatever. And yes, others must have also been experimenting with it as well and no one else died. There is more to the story, and other questions. It is very irresponsible as a community to point blame without proper knowledge of the situation. And this drug is new to our police, not a brand new drug. Its been around since the 70's. And in my opinion those guys do not deserve prison and they do not deserve to have their pictures everywhere. Barbara you are ignorant. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. One boy already died, we need to help our communtiy and heal our young people.
Don't Believe What You ReadSeptember 13, 2012 - 10:17 pm
LSD and hallucinagenics are still aound Barbara, they weren't just in the 60's. And they don't kill you. They might make you stupid, but they don't kill you.
robertdnollSeptember 13, 2012 - 10:22 pm
no solid evidence? "ongoing investigation led to the arrest"
KSSeptember 14, 2012 - 6:33 am
Local, you're making just as many assumptions yourself and creating your own story just as much as you're accusing everyone else on this forum of doing. Don't Believe What You Read- The paper isn't talking about the 'house party' because that is merely speculation, and the Mt Democrat isn't risking falsely incriminating the owners of the house. And yes, Alejandro was old enough to be consciously making these decisions himself. Yet as a 21 year old myself, I hold myself to more responsibility than any 15 year old. I clearly remember being that age, and I've sure learned and grown a lot since. These MEN (you're an adult in your 20's, thus you should be held to the standards of an adult) who sold Alejandro the drugs should be held accountable. They are drug dealers who target teens. How is that not wrong? They helped put a kid in a situation that cost him his life, it's as simple as that.
JesseSeptember 16, 2012 - 5:34 pm
Someone who has the personality type to seek out drugs will seek out drugs no matter the influence. Someone who doesn't have that personality type will not. If I were to have died as a result of my past drug abuse I would be absolutely ashamed of anyone who placed blame on someone else for my irresponsibility. How can any one of you blame Eli or Jesse? If you knew them you would know how great and loving people they are. I understand that death is a complicated thing, and everyone copes in their own way, but sorry city of placerville; the fact that mr. avila died does not excuse his actions or make him a victim. I'm sure he was a great person, but maybe the attention should be directed at his home or school life or even his mental well-being and the cause of why he sought out drugs to begin with rather than pretending that these people are bad because it makes us sleep better having someone "at fault" behind bars. Do you think ruining their lives will change ANYTHING about this town? You, the citizens have created the environment you live in. If you the public had the sense to do something and make a place where kids could go and have safe fun this may have never happened. THE REASON THAT DRUGS RUN THIS TOWN IS BECAUSE KIDS HAVE NOTHING TO DO OTHER THAN DRUGS. get that through your minds! I KNOW that 98% of kids who grow up in this town have tried hard drugs at least once and we should accept the blame for that together. I mean people, have you looked around? Hallucinogenics a problem? Have you even LOOKED at the arms of 50% of kids? Covered in tracks from shooting up heroin and meth. If we don't wise up and face the real issues soon, this town will be as unsafe as Oak Park in the middle of the night. I say we, the people of this town who recognize the real issues, should band together and fight this case with Roberts and Richter against the ignorant prosecutors and direct this spotlight away from them and onto the real problem.
KelliSeptember 16, 2012 - 8:10 pm
So tired of people blaming everything that goes wrong with the kids in this town on there being 'nothing to do' in Placerville. You do realize that there are plenty people who live in towns that are much smaller, more secluded, and far less built up and yet drugs are a complete non-issue? My husband, for instance, grew up in a farm town of 1000 people and the teens there hang out at the gas station parking lot for fun on the weekends. Sound boring? The teens never turn to drugs there, or at least only a very small fraction do. I live in Idaho now where things are much less 'exciting' than anything you'll find in California, even in a town like Placerville, yet drug use is far less prevalent here. Teens can find other things to do than drugs in Placerville, I grew up there and I never touched anything. The problem isn't a lack of fun-- people have tried to bring entertainment to Placerville (oh, say that lovely skatepark) and it doesn't help anything, it just gets saturated with the drugs and violence these teens bring and it gets ruined. The problem is the lack of proper, involved parenting. If the adults are crappy people, their children will turn out the same. Pretty simple concept. And for the few good parents in that town, their kids are so surrounded by these teens who were not raised with any standards that they get dragged down as well. And for the record, anyone who knows Alejandro's parents at ALL knows that they are wonderful and they did everything in their power to raise their kids right, Alejandro was just surrounded by too much of the crap and peer pressure that he got caught up in the wrong things. Good kids turn to drugs because everyone around them is doing them, even the best parenting can't always overcome that factor.
curiousSeptember 17, 2012 - 8:15 am
Kelli: 2 Qs - Where did your husband grow up? How long ago?
robertdnollSeptember 17, 2012 - 8:33 am
there is plenty of things for kids do in this county,school sports,clubs,four h.future farmers of America,scouts,hunting,fishing,hiking,yard work,homework
KelliSeptember 17, 2012 - 9:31 pm
Curious- He grew up in Idaho, and he graduated in 2006, so not too long ago.
S CSeptember 19, 2012 - 9:55 pm
`I just want to point out that the drug 2C-B cannot kill some one, even at very high doses. 2C-B also cannot be put on blotter, which this "killer" drug was. 2C-B is a safe and fun substance, one of the visual psychadelics around. Eli is no chemist, he doesn't know too much about the drugs he sold he once gave me "2C-I" on a tab, which also cant be down. I suspected this drug was like DOI, an amphetamine version of 2C-I. There are many psychedelic research chemicals, 2C-B is one of the safest. I have also heard the boy had eaten 8 tabs of the RC. Any one looking for creditable, unbiased information on these drugs should check erowid.org
robertdnollSeptember 22, 2012 - 12:32 am
a lot of people need to keep an eye on sc