The father of a 14-year-old Langley boy who died of an apparent overdose is outraged and heartbroken after watching disturbing video that appears to show the final hours of his son’s life.
The video, which has circulated on Snapchat and other social media platforms before being sent to Global News, shows Carson Crimeni high on drugs at the Walnut Grove Skateboard Park Wednesday night.
As the Grade 9 student twitches, bugs out his eyes and slurs his speech, a group of teens surrounding him can be heard laughing while music plays in the background. His condition appears to worsen as the video goes on.
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Aron Crimeni says he wants the public to see how his son was treated before he died.
“They knew he was dying. He was dying right in front of their eyes, and they filmed it,” the grieving father told Global News through tears Friday.
“They filmed it, and they Snapchatted it, and nobody called for help.”
Langley RCMP, the BC Coroners Service and the Independent Investigations Office are all investigating Carson’s death.
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RCMP confirmed Thursday night the teen was pronounced dead “after his arrival at a local hospital by what is believed to be an overdose on narcotics.”
At the start of the video, the poster says Carson is “tweaking on molly,” a term for MDMA or ecstasy. Later, another caption reads he’s “15 caps deep.”
Officials have not yet determined what drugs were in Carson’s system when he died, or how much. No one has come forward to say how many drugs the teen took that night or who supplied them.
An autopsy is expected to be performed Tuesday.
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At one point in the video, a Naloxone kit can be seen on the ground, although it wouldn’t have prevented an overdose on MDMA. Crimeni says someone should have simply called for help.
“One person, just one person could have called,” he said. “Even if he wasn’t there, seeing it on Snapchat and sitting at home, he could have called 911 anonymously and said ‘hey, there’s a kid in trouble and he’s here, go help him.’ They might have been able to save him.”
Police believe Carson spent his final hours on foot between the skate park, the grounds of Walnut Grove Secondary School and the nearby Walnut Grove Athletic Park.
Crimeni said his son was found alone, barely breathing, in a ditch near the baseball field close to the skate park.
The group of teens who found him, who weren’t at the skate park earlier, called 911.
As for the teens in the video, Crimeni wants justice.
“There needs to be charges,” he said. “These kids need to be held accountable.”
Criminal lawyer Paul Doroshenko says charges of criminal negligence causing death are possible if the teens can be identified, adding the video itself would be strong evidence for prosecutors.
“It’s upsetting to see,” he said. “You’ve got a bunch of young people who aren’t doing the moral thing that we would like them to do, which is to help the person and call the ambulance.
“They clearly have phones there; instead they are sort of using it for their entertainment.”
Crimeni said his son, who had ADHD and did not normally take hard drugs that he knew of, was a good kid who just wanted to belong and fit in.
“He thought they were his friends. He called them his friends,” he said. “He trusted them.”
A GoFundMe has been raised on behalf of the family.
— With files from Rumina Daya and Simon Little
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