A high school student in Tennessee was charged with murder after two teenagers were found dead of a suspected drug overdose at their rural Tennessee school this week.
Authorities said Thursday afternoon that the student facing charges was also hospitalized in critical condition during the incident at Fayette-Ware High School in Somerville, a town of less than 3,500 people about 50 miles northeast of Memphis.
Fayette County District Attorney Mark Davidson confirmed that the girl who has been charged is facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of possession of a controlled substance. All charges have been filed in juvenile court, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, part of the USA TODAY Network..
All three teens, one 16 years old and the others age 17, were completing their junior year at the high school, Fayette County Public Schools released in a statement on Wednesday.
The school reported the students were outside the school during the incident, though it did not specify where.
Just before school’s graduation
The sheriff’s office told local outlet WRGE Memphis they were notified about the incident at 4:40 p.m., just hours before the school’s graduation took place.
Chief Deputy Ray Garcia told the outlet officers responded to the school for a report of two people that “appeared to not be breathing.”
The teen who survived was upgraded to stable condition.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told USA TODAY Thursday it is assisting the sheriff’s office in the death case.
Neither law enforcement agency or the district could immediately be reached by USA TODAY Thursday morning.
Vigil set at Fayette-Ware High School
“We want to send our thoughts and prayers to the families of the young ladies who lost their lives,” the district’s Superintendent Dr. Versie R. Hamlett said in the release. “This situation has rocked our family.”
Grief counseling is being offered at every school in the district, Hamlett said.
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A balloon release vigil is slated to take place at the high school at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the sheriff’s office or TBI.
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
