Reason for death found

A combination of drugs and alcohol contributed to the death of an NIU student last April, a jury panel offically announced at an inquest July 6.

Stenio LaPlanche, 20, passed out with a .16 percent alcohol blood level and suffocated on his vomit. Traces of cocaine also were found in his body. However, because tests are still in progress, the DeKalb County Coroner’s office does not know what other chemicals could be discovered.

A spokesman for the office said both drugs and alcohol contributed to LaPlanche’s vomiting, and because he was unconscious, they also caused respiratory failure.

The coroner’s six-member jury panel suggested the police investigate the Eagles Club, 4th and Locust streets, where LaPlanche was drinking the night he died.

LaPlanche was pronounced dead April 23, after his roommates found him unconscious in a car outside of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, 900 Greenbrier Road.

Earlier reports state the students were drinking alcohol at their home before going to the Eagles Club.

LaPlanche’s four roommates later visited some friends near the fraternity house, but Stenio remained in the car.

Mike Haines, Health Enhancement Services coordinator, said, “Technically, the effects (of combining cocaine and alcohol) are considered antagonistic. They work against each other.”