This story first appeared in the January 25, 2018 issue of The Vantage.
By Delaney Hiegert, Editor-In-Chief (2016-2018)
The death of the 20-year- old woman found outside a house party thrown at the residence of three Newman baseball players over Halloween weekend has been ruled an overdose, Wichita Police Officer Charley Davidson said. Davidson said the case is still open at this time.
The woman, Griffin Cruise, was not a Newman student. The three baseball players who hosted the party were placed on temporary suspension, but that suspension has now been lifted, Head Coach Zane Ehling said in an email.
“All discipline has been handled at this time,” he said.
Athletic Director Vic Trilli said the players’ suspensions were handled internally by the team’s coaching staff because there were no university policies violated, only team policies.
“I believe it is important to know to know that the young lady’s death, although tragic, was not the reason for the player suspensions,” Trilli said.
According to Cruise’s autopsy results, she died of an overdose from a drug called 251-NBOMe.
The drug, commonly referred to as “N-bomb,” is a type of synthetic hallucinogen sold as an alternative to LSD.
The autopsy report states that Cruise was seen snorting “a white crystalline substance” before leaving the party with a friend after she began “freaking out” from an apparent sensory overload.
The report states she was later discovered slumped over in the driver’s side of her vehicle on the morning of Oct. 29, the day after the Halloween party.
