Update: R.I. man, 22, gave alcohol to teammate who died
6:26 PM Thu, May 14, 2009 | Permalink
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GENEVA, N.Y. (AP) -- Two varsity lacrosse players at Hobart and William Smith Colleges admitted Thursday they gave alcohol to an underage teammate who died of a drug and alcohol overdose at an off-campus apartment in January. Days before their graduations, seniors Bradley Hester and Matthew Smalley pleaded guilty to one count each of unlawfully providing alcohol to someone under age 21. They could get as much as a year in jail at sentencing Aug. 6. Toxicology tests and an autopsy showed Warren Kimber IV, 20, died from a combination of alcohol and oxycodone intoxication after a Jan. 30 lacrosse team party in this Finger Lakes town in western New York. The apartment was leased by Hester, 22, of Haymarket, Va., along with Smalley, a 23-year-old from Cumberland, R.I., and another teammate. "There were 30 or 40 people there," said Hester's lawyer, Michael Roulan. "It was a mild party as parties go. There were some people under 21, and they (Hester and Smalley) provided beer for the party. ... Other people brought beer too but it was their house, that's where the party was." Kimber, a sophomore from Summit, N.J., who lived at an on-campus residence a few blocks away, was found dead the next day. He was 11 days short of his 21st birthday, Roulan said. His blood-alcohol level at the time of death was 0.29, nearly four times the legal limit for driving. Doctors said the alcohol level was probably not lethal in itself, but caused his death in combination with the prescription narcotics, Ontario County prosecutor R. Michael Tantillo said. The investigation indicated that Kimber "consumed these substances of his own volition," Tantillo said, adding that he didn't know how Kimber obtained the painkillers. Kimber's grandfather, Warren Kimber Jr., is a trustee at the liberal arts school in Geneva. Hobart, a men's college, was founded in 1822 and William Smith was started for women in 1908. Its 2,000 undergraduates share faculty, classrooms and an 180-acre campus, but each has its own dean, admissions office and athletics programs and awards its own degrees. This story was originally posted at 11:17 a.m. and updated at 3:09 p.m. CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this story gave the wrong hometowns for Smalley and Hester, misspelled Roulan's name, and incorrectly reported where Kimber died.
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Gee that's great.....let's put someone in jail because they gave some booze to a college kid who was partying like a rock star. Whatever happened to personal accountability? Anyone foolish enough to mix prescription drugs with booze takes their life in their own hands.
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Yes, Chris, let's put someone in jail for breaking the law and in so doing contributing to a death. Makes a lot more sense than putting someone in jail for not understanding the tax code (see Richard Hatch story, lower on this page).
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Smally, originally from Cumberland, went to Avon Old Farms and is a nice young man.
This is why the drinking age needs to be 18 - more road deaths perhaps but many, many fewer of these (much more frequent) incidents where some fool drinks far too much and or mixes it in assinine fashion with a death drug and then the kids don't get him/her help right away because they'll all get in trouble.
Former President of Middlebury and a hundred other college presidents are pushing to reduce the drinking age back to 18.
It ain't working folks.
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There are laws against providing alcohol to minors. They clearly broke that law. They are definitely accountable for that. They probably won't get anything more than a suspended sentence.
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I agree with Chris. The kid was 20, but if he was 21 this would of been his fault! It's tragic, but to hold two other kids accountable for another kid's poor decision is not right!
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I feel bad for the Kimber family, but he was the one who took the oxy. The house only provided the alcohol, to have these young men serve time would be too harsh of a penalty.
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Bubba, I don't understand your point in this case. If the drinking age was lowered to 18, then we'll simply see the same situations happening with 16 and 17 year olds instead of with 19 and 20 year olds. This isn't the best example for you to use in making your case to lower the drinking age.
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Nevermind where Kimber got the alcohol. Where did he get the oxycodone?
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You people are acting like they are being charged for causing the boy's death. They aren't. They are being charged with providing alcohol to a minor, which they did. That is the law they broke, and they definitely deserve some sort of punishment.
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