Caffeine binge kills teen after he chugs a latte, Mountain Dew and energy drink, coroner says

A coroner says a healthy 16-year-old South Carolina high school student died from heart problems after drinking too much caffeine.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Monday that Davis Cripe had no preexisting heart condition that might have caused him to collapse and die in a classroom last month.

Watts says Cripe drank a large Mountain Dew, a latte from McDonald’s and an energy drink in the two hours before his heart fell out of rhythm at Spring Hill High School near Chapin on April 26.

Watts says parents need to know that while a soda or a cup of coffee is OK for teens, large amounts of caffeine can be deadly.

At a news conference, Watts said Cripe died of a caffeine-induced cardiac event.

“It was so much caffeine at the time of his death that it caused his arrhythmia,” he said.

“These drinks can be very dangerous,” Watts continued. “I’m telling my friends and family, ‘Don’t drink them.’ ”

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