Reports show recent students' deaths are result of mixed-drug use

Two 2011 student deaths were confirmed as accidental overdoses of both illegal and prescription drugs, according to autopsy and toxicology reports released on Friday.

Kevin Rourke, a 22-year-old advertising senior who was found dead Dec. 2 in his Cedar Village apartment, likely died of a mix of alcohol and prescription drug use, according to reports from Sparrow Forensic Pathology Services.

Nick Charboneau, a 21-year-old psychology senior who was found dead Nov. 28 in his home on Milford Street, died of mixed drug use.
According to reports obtained by The State News through Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, Rourke had high amounts of oxycodone and alprazolam — the main drugs found in OxyContin and Xanax — as
well as alcohol in his bloodstream at the time of his death.

In the report, witnesses told investigators they saw Rourke crushing and snorting OxyContin and ingesting Xanax and alcohol the evening prior to his death.

Other materials detected in Rourke through further toxicology testing were painkiller oxymorphone, benzoylecgonine — the main metabolite of cocaine — and nicotine.

Charboneau’s toxicology reports show he had traces of anxiety-relieving drugs chlordiazepoxide, desmentyl and nordiazepam, as well as cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine, morphine and diphenhydramine, a drug commonly used in Benadryl, in his bloodstream.

Further toxicology testing showed chemicals associated with heroin use, a morphine derivative, caffeine, nicotine, the psychedelic drug EME, evidence of marijuana use and several other pain relieving drugs in Charboneau’s system.