DETROIT -- Samantha Reid asked for a drink at a party, was given a glass of Mountain Dew, sipped it and called it "gross." She drank it anyway.
Samantha didn't know her drink had been spiked with the GHB, the so-called "date-rape" drug. The 15-year-old became violently ill, fell unconscious and died the next day after she was taken off of life support.On Tuesday, four young men accused of spiking Samantha's drink were convicted in her death. Jurors found Joshua Cole, 19, Daniel Brayman, 18, and Nicholas Holtschlag, 18, guilty of involuntary manslaughter and two poisoning charges.
The fourth defendant, Erick Limmer, 26, was found guilty of one count each of being an accessory to manslaughter after the fact, poisoning, delivery of marijuana and possession of GHB.
The involuntary manslaughter convictions carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. Each poisoning count is punishable by up to five years; jurors rejected more severe poisoning charges carrying a maximum penalty of life in prison.
After the verdict was read, Samantha's mother, Judi Clark, wept softly. The four men sat impassively. A few of Samantha's relatives and friends whispered "Yes!" as the verdicts were read.
"The message is that if you mix and mingle with GHB, you're going to jail," Clark said of the verdicts. "I think justice has been done."
During the trial, prosecutors alleged the four gave Samantha and a friend beverages secretly spiked with GHB during a party in Limmer's apartment. The friend survived.
Cole's attorney, John Courtright, repeatedly told jurors Samantha's death was a "tragic accident." Attorneys for Brayman and Holtschlag argued their clients were unaware GHB was present at the party, and that Cole alone should be blamed.
Courtright acknowledged his client spiked the girls' drinks but with what he believed was only a harmless intoxicant supplied by Limmer.
Limmer said he was gone or in his bedroom most of the night the girls were drugged. Earlier this month, Drake threw out a manslaughter count against him.
Mixing a few drops of GHB, a colorless, odorless drug, into a drink can render a victim unconscious within 20 minutes.
Last month, President Clinton signed legislation toughening federal laws against possessing, making or distributing GHB. The bill is named for Samantha and a Texas teenager who also died after GHB was slipped into her soft drink.