16 Year Old Dies After Taking Oxycodone, Friend gets Charged

CATOOSA COUNTY, GA-The Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department took a 15-year-old white male from Ringgold into custody Monday night, March 3. The juvenile, whose name has not been released, has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death of 16-year-old Timothy Lebron Smith, three counts of distributing prescription drugs and one count of possession of prescription drugs.

The suspect is believed to have supplied 80 mg. Oxycodone pills to three friends at Ringgold High School on Friday, Feb. 29 and retained several pills for his own use, police said. Investigators believe the teen took the Oxycodone from his grandfather, who has cancer, lockbox.

According to Summers, four students consumed the pills, two of them became seriously ill from taking two pills, another was hospitalized from taking three pills, and Timothy Lebron Smith, who consumed four pills, was found dead on Saturday, March 1, at his friends house where he had spent the night. The juvenile charged with voluntary manslaughter was one of the four students.

According to Summers, the 15-year-old will be prosecuted as a juvenile and there are no plans to seek prosecution as an adult. According to drug intelligence, the suspect has not been involved in a situation like this before.

“I don’t think a lot of kids understand the ramifications of taking drugs from home,” said Sheriff Summers. “Oxycodone is a time-released drug,” explained Sheriff Summers. “They were probably uneducated about the drug, took a couple pills and when they felt no effect, they took more. By the time they knew something was wrong, it was too late.”