Charges possible in St. Paul teen's death

St. Paul 15-year-old Bee Vue died after a night of drinking, but authorities have yet to determine a cause of death.

By ANTHONY LONETREE, Star Tribune

Last update: November 10, 2009 - 11:30 PM

Ever since elementary school, Bee Vue had struggled in the classroom, triggering frequent calls from his teachers to his parents about the young boy's troubles, his sister recalled Tuesday.

"A lot of people did doubt him," Joua Vue, 20, said of her youngest brother. "But he told us he'd prove us wrong."

On Sunday, Bee Vue, 15, a freshman determined to graduate from St. Paul's Como Park Senior High School, died. He had been drinking heavily the night before, his sister said Tuesday, and was found about 5 a.m. in his bedroom, cold to the touch.

Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Schnell said authorities were investigating the death on several fronts. In addition to trying to determine a cause, he said, there also was the possibility of felony charges being pursued against whoever supplied Vue with alcohol.

Joua Vue said authorities told family members Sunday that her brother had bled internally, possibly from a punch or some other blow to the stomach.

Schnell said the medical examiner's office was awaiting additional information from police before ruling on how Vue died. He declined to discuss details, but acknowledged that "investigators are looking at what may have caused some of those injuries."

According to his sister, Bee Vue attended two parties on Saturday night before being brought home by three friends about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, unable to walk. With the help of another sister, the friends put Vue in his downstairs bedroom.

About 5 a.m., Joua Vue said, her boyfriend came to the house and was asked by another brother to go to Bee Vue's room because his alarm clock was sounding. The boyfriend found Vue in "a weird position on the floor," Joua Vue said, and after the sister checked on him, too, they called police.

Her brother was pronounced dead at the scene.

Last month, the City Council approved a social host ordinance making it a misdemeanor to host an event where minors drink. It is not yet in effect, Schnell said. But he added that investigators would probably review the case in the context of a state law inspired by the 1997 traffic death of Kevin Brockway, a St. Paul teenager. It made it possible to file felony charges in cases where a minor is furnished alcohol and it contributes to his or her death.

Vue's drinking had drawn warnings from his parents, Joua Vue said. She, too, thought it was a mistake. But she said: "I wouldn't say he had a problem with drinking."

Her brother hoped to one day enter the military, she said, and to that end, he had joined the U.S. Army JROTC at Como Park High. Just a couple of weeks ago, his sister said, he asked her to iron his uniform pants.

"He told us, 'I'll prove you wrong,'" she said. "And, oh yeah, I believed him."

Anthony Lonetree • 612-673-4109

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