Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PARK CITY — A Park City teenager accused of having synthetic drugs delivered to her — including one shipment of a powerful painkiller that led to the fatal overdoses of her two friends — began sobbing when federal agents arrested her at a McDonald's in July, a federal agent testified on Friday.
"She was so upset during the interview, she was inaudible at times," said Matthew Lowry, a task force officer with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The girl's attorney is seeking to limit evidence that can be used against her 17-year-old client. Mary Corporon wants to exclude from trial statements the teen later made to officers at the Summit County Sheriff's Office the day of her arrest. The testimony Friday did not reveal what she said to officers who questioned her.
The teen, who the Deseret News is not naming at this time, has denied the four counts of drug distribution, a second-degree felony.
Lowry on Friday recalled showing the girl his badge and leading her to a police car as she cried and asked, "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
"For all you knew, she thought she was being kidnapped," Corporon told him during the hearing in Park City's 3rd District Juvenile Court.
Prosecutors say the teen was planning to meet up at the McDonald's in July with a man who had agreed to accept shipments of e-cigarette refills for her. But the U.S. Postal Service intercepted a package, which instead contained a powdery hallucinogen. Authorities intercepted two other shipments of ecstasy, charging documents state.
She faces three drug charges stemming from this year and one dating to 2016, when two 13-year-old boys, Grant Seaver and Ryan Ainsworth, allegedly asked to have a powerful white-powder opioid "pink," or U-44770, shipped to her home. The boys overdosed and died after taking the drug, prosecutors say.
The teen sat in a blazer and scarf Friday as her parents watched the proceeding. She didn't speak except to confer quietly with her attorney. Another teen, a boy, also was charged as a result of the same investigation, said Patricia Cassell, chief criminal prosecutor in the Summit County Attorney's office, but the case has since been dismissed.
Friday's brief hearing is set to continue next month when attorneys hope to question another federal officer who helped arrest the girl, a timeline they said could be affected by the looming government shutdown.
In March, Grant Seaver's family sued the parents of four of their son's friends, including the 17-year-old girl and Ryan Ainsworth's parents, arguing their son's death was caused by the other parents' negligent supervision and abnormally dangerous activity. The civil suit is pending in Park City's 3rd District Court..
