El Camino Real Athlete, 17, Dies From Fentanyl Overdose

WOODLAND HILLS, CA — A 17-year-old musician and high school baseball player from Woodland Hills died from a fentanyl overdose, plunging his classmates into mourning Friday.

Cade Kitchen, a student at El Camino Real High School, died last week, the school announced in a letter sent to students and their families Thursday. Fentanyl overdoses among Los Angeles teens has more than tripled since the start of the pandemic, reaching crisis levels as schools, health officials and parents grapple with the suddenly ubiquitous and deadly drug.

Cade played for the school's baseball team his freshman and sophomore years, and his unexpected death hit the team hard.

“A lot of players were pretty tight with him,” the team's baseball coach Josh Lienhard told the Los Angeles Times. “It was a tough one.”

The Kitchen family is active in the El Camino Real community, and the community - in shock and mourning — rallied around the family. Lienhard created a GoFundMe for the Kitchen family, and donations poured in with $48,000 donated by Friday morning.

David Hussey, executive director at El Camino Real Charter High School, addressed students and sent a letter home to their parents as well.

"It is with great sadness that I inform you that one of our 17-year- old students passed away last night. This tragic incident was the result of a fatal Fentanyl overdose. As a father and a parent, I cannot fathom the loss of a child. My heart breaks to know that an El Camino student will not be with us tomorrow," he wrote. "On behalf of the El Camino Real community, our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time. After the death of a friend, young people need more support and attention than usual from their parents and other adults. This is an especially difficult and emotional time for those who knew the student, the student's family or for students who have experienced recent trauma in their lives."

Through mid-July of last year, fatal drug overdoses among Los Angeles teens was up more than 330 percent, according to the Los Angeles County Department Public Health. Recently, the California Department of Public Health found that Fentanyl-related overdose deaths in California's youth ages 10-19 years spiked by 625 percent. The state saw 261 fentanyl-related overdose deaths among youths in 20201 up from 36 in 2018.

In most of these cases, the victims were unaware they are ingesting fentanyl. The cheap, potent and highly addictive substance is used to lace everything from methamphetamine to opioids, ecstasy, and painkillers such as Percocet. Los Angeles Unified School District officials warned parents that teens may be buying drugs online. According to the county health department, drugs purchased online are frequently laced with fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be as much as 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

In many ways, the ease of access to fentanyl and its explosion on the local drug scene, caught schools, health officials, police and parents in Los Angeles unprepared.

Last month, 15-year-old Melanie Ramos, died on the floor of a girls' bathroom on the campus at Bernstein High School in Hollywood after overdosing on fentanyl on Sept. 13. Her friend was found nearby suffering from an overdose. They were among a spate of seven fentanyl overdoses linked to a Hollywood campus in September. Two teens were arrested on suspicion of providing Percocet pills laced with fentanyl to their classmates.

SEE ALSO: Seventh Hollywood Teen Overdosed, Apparently From Fentanyl

Earlier this year, three teenage girls overdosed at a Santa Monica apartment while using with they thought was ecstasy purchased online.

In response, the Los Angeles Unified School District officials voted to provide Narcan, or Naloxone, on every campus in an effort to address the increase in fentanyl-related overdoses. It is expected to go into effect next week.

There are steps families can take to reduce the risk of fatal fentanyl-related overdoses, according to the Los Angeles County Public Department of Health.

1. Have Narcan or Naloxone on hand. It can be purchased without a prescription at California pharmacies.
2. Avoid purchasing drugs from unreliable sources. Drugs from strangers or purchased online pose a significant risk of being contaminated with life-threatening substances.
3. Never use drugs alone. Have a trusted person present as a safeguard in case of overdose. Anyone using drugs alone can call Never Use Alone at 1-800-484-3731 and an operator will remain on the line and will call emergency services if the user stops responding.
4. Test drugs before using them. Fentanyl test strips identify contaminated drugs. Although such test strips aren't 100 percent reliable, they can save lives if used correctly. You can purchase them affordably online at: BTNX, Dose Test, Dance Safe, Wisebatch, or TACO.
5. Know the signs of an opioid overdose:

• Stupor or altered mental state
• Loss of consciousness
• Slowed or erratic heart rate
• Respiratory depression or failure
• Nausea or vomiting
• Pinpoint pupils
• Skin color changes
• Seizures
• Cold and clammy skin
• Muscle Spasms

City News Service contributed to this report.