An 18-year-old woman who police say hid drugs at the behest of an Ecstasy provider whose stash helped kill a Belmont eighth-grader pleaded not guilty to felony conspiracy charges yesterday.
Angelique Malabey is among the five people arrested following the death of 14-year-old Irma Perez who took an Ecstasy pill with two girlfriends at a Belmont slumber party. Her death sparked multiple arrests, including the two other girls and Calin Fintzi, the 17-year-old boy who reportedly sold them the pills. Police then went after Antonio Rivera, 20, who they believe provided the pills to the boy to sell.
Malabey is not directly linked to Perez's death but police say Rivera asked her to help cover up his involvement. While Perez lay brain dead, Malabey took the Ecstasy and other drugs from Rivera's apartment and hid them, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Perez fell unconscious April 23 after taking one pill, the same as her two friends. They allegedly held off getting help from an adult until early Saturday morning and Perez was rushed to Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital. By then it was too late and Perez was declared brain dead. She was removed from life support the following Wednesday and her organs were donated.
Within a day of the slumber party, Fintzi and Rivera were arrested on charges of providing drugs to a minor, drug possession and child endangerment. Malabey was arrested with Rivera. The two 14-year-old girls were taken into custody two days after Perez was declared dead.
Recommended for you
Toxicology reports completed last Wednesday show that the Ecstasy was directly responsible for Perez's death, according to the Coroner's Office. The findings could strengthen the charges against the four suspects but will have no effect on the conspiracy charge against Malabey.
Rivera is in custody at San Mateo County Jail and the others are being held at Hillcrest Juvenile Facility.
Malabey is out of custody on a $10,000 bail bond and was ordered to return to court July 23 for a preliminary hearing. She has no prior criminal record and faces up to three years in prison.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.