Sat, Jul 04, 2009

Arizona / West

2 charged with murder, abuse in teen's death during drug party

By Christian Richardson
East Valley Tribune
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.16.2007
A grand jury has indicted two men on charges that they gave a 17-year-old girl a lethal combination of drugs during the hours leading to her death.
Gerlando Curreri, 45, of the Queen Creek area and Cristian Guevara, 21, of Mesa were indicted Aug. 8 by a Pinal County grand jury in the death of April Stephanie Ochoa of Chandler.
The six charges include first-degree murder, second-degree murder and child abuse as well as counts that accuse the two men of providing Ochoa with cocaine, marijuana and Hydrocodone, a pain reliever related to codeine.
Both men were already in jail in Florence on Friday when they were booked on the new charges.
On Monday, both appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Bond for each was set to remain at $100,000.
Ochoa had been among a group of people who on March 17 went to 2155 W. Silver Creek Lane outside Queen Creek, where Curreri lived.
A witness told authorities that at 2 a.m. they went to the home and started drinking beer, according to a Pinal County Sheriff's Office report.
As time progressed, Ochoa used cocaine, took a pill, snorted a medication and smoked marijuana, the witness told investigators.
About 7 a.m., medical personnel were called for help after blood was seen coming from Ochoa's nose and mouth, the report says.
She was flown by medical helicopter to a Mesa hospital, where she was pronounced dead.