The 18-year-old friend who provided alcohol to 15-year-old
Gilroy High School student Sarah Botill last year before her
untimely death was sentenced to 50 hours of community service last
month.
The 18-year-old friend who provided alcohol to 15-year-old Gilroy High School student Sarah Botill last year before her untimely death was sentenced to 50 hours of community service last month.
Kayla Dunigan pleaded guilty to a charge of furnishing alcohol to someone under the age of 21 and was sentenced April 26.
As part of the agreement, Dunigan can receive 10 hours credit for each lecture that she gives to youth on the dangers of alcohol, district attorney spokeswoman Amy Cornell said. Most of those speaking engagements will be at middle schools and high schools, she said.
Dunigan was also required to surrender her driver’s license for one year, Cornell said.
Police cited and released Dunigan on Feb. 24 for giving vodka to 15-year-old Sarah Botill at a Dec. 5 slumber party after which Botill died.
The maximum possible sentence for furnishing alcohol to a minor is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The minimum penalty is a $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service.
The District Attorney’s office determined there was not enough evidence to link Dunigan’s law violation to the teen’s death and that she should not face charges related to her death. Although the teenager died several hours after drinking alcohol furnished by Dunigan, the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office was unable to determine the exact cause of the teenager’s death.
Dunigan brought a bottle of Ketel One vodka to a birthday party at the Bunting Court house of Roland and Lisa Velasco on Dec. 5, according to police. The three girls who were at the party – Botill, Dunigan and Lisa Velasco’s daughter – were drinking the vodka mixed with sparkling cider, unbeknownst to the Velascos, police have said.
Botill – the daughter of a Gilroy firefighter – became increasingly ill after the girls had been drinking, vomiting several times. She and Lisa Velasco’s daughter put on bathing suits and got in the shower to wash off the vomit. Botill ultimately died shortly after being transported to Saint Louise Regional Hospital about 9:30 a.m., police said. Dunigan left the house about 5 a.m. after being disgusted by Botill’s vomiting, police said.
Botill’s autopsy report stated that her death cannot be determined, but her blood alcohol level – about .053 percent one to two hours before her death – was far below what would normally be fatal. She may have died from a preexisting heart condition that was exacerbated by alcohol or by inhaling a significant amount of water or watery vomit while intoxicated, the report said.
