Sheriff's office: Alcohol likely not to blame for death of 14-year-old girl

Alcohol may not have killed a 14-year-old Santa Rosa girl found dead after drinking what she thought was vodka at a summertime sleepover.

In July, investigators said Takeimi Rao likely died of alcohol poisoning after she and three friends drank soda mixed with vodka.

But Sonoma County sheriff's officials said Thursday the girls may have drunk something other than vodka. Investigators have sent out for a third toxicology report after previous tests revealed that Rao had a low blood-alcohol level. An autopsy revealed no signs that Rao choked on vomit, asphyxiated or suffered from another medical emergency, Lt. Dennis O'Leary said.

"We just don't know what the substance was," O'Leary said. "I don't know if the girls are sure what they consumed."

How Rao died hinges on determining exactly what the girls drank, he said. The medical examiner was waiting for a more detailed toxicology report expected to take several weeks.

Detectives spoke with the girls again about two weeks ago to go back over the events of the night, he said. O'Leary said Thursday he would not release the names of the girls because "we don't know what happened." The investigation is ongoing.

Rao and three friends ate hamburgers at about 10 p.m. July 9 and then returned to Rao's Foothill Ranch Road home for a sleepover, O'Leary said. The girls mixed soda and what they believed was vodka taken from a kitchen cabinet.

However Rao's parents told detectives that the bottle wasn't theirs and may have been left behind by a previous tenant, O'Leary said.

The girls became sick and vomited during the night. At about 2 a.m., Rao's mother Aleae Pennette tended to two girls as they vomited and then the other two girls who became sick about an hour later, sheriff's officials said.

Pennette told deputies she had believed they were suffering from food poisoning and alerted their parents in the morning.

By 9 a.m., Rao was unresponsive. Investigators estimate Rao was dead for at least four hours before she was found, O'Leary said.

At the time, detectives suspected Rao died from either alcohol poisoning or from choking on vomit.

"Initially that's what everybody thought," O'Leary said.

Rao's friends were later taken to the hospital by their parents, but no samples were drawn from them because they were brought in after the substance likely left their system, sheriff's officials said.

An autopsy in the days after Rao's death revealed no obvious signs that the small-statured girl choked and a toxicology report returned late July showed she had a low blood-alcohol content, O'Leary said.

The medical examiner sent another set of samples to a private lab for further analysis, but still wasn't satisfied when the results came back in October, O'Leary said.

Coroner's Sgt. Greg Stashyn said "exhaustive tests are being done."

"We really don't rule out everything or anything until we get some type of conclusive result back," Stashyn said. "But alcohol doesn't seem to be the key focus."

Detectives were also investigating the health histories of Rao's family members, O'Leary said. Her family did not return several phone calls.