A father is charged in alcohol fatality

Prosecutors took the unprecedented step this week of charging a 46-year-old Easthampton father with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of his daughter's 15-year-old friend, who died in February after an hourlong drinking binge.

Timothy E. Parent is the first Massachusetts resident to face such a charge in the death of a minor who died as a direct result of drinking, said Elizabeth Dunphy Farris, deputy first assistant district attorney for the Northwestern district attorney's office.

Parent, who was released on his own recognizance, pleaded not guilty in Hampshire Superior Court Wednesday to the involuntary manslaughter charge and two counts of procuring alcohol for a minor stemming from prior episodes involving six teenagers that were revealed during the investigation, Dunphy Farris said.

Parent is accused of buying a 1.75-liter bottle of vodka for his 15-year-old daughter in January, said Easthampton Police Chief Bruce W. McMahon. The daughter, who was not identified by police because she is a minor, and her friend, Alexis E. Garcia, 15, poured some of the vodka into a 20-ounce bottle and drank it at Garcia's house after school on Feb. 2, McMahon said. Late that afternoon, Garcia went upstairs to take a shower, McMahon said. Garcia's friend found her a short time later, lying facedown in the bathtub, McMahon said. Garcia was declared dead a few hours later at a local hospital.

The medical examiner concluded that Garcia died from drowning and alcohol poisoning, McMahon said. Her blood-alcohol content was between 0.28 and 0.33, three to four times above the legal limit of 0.08, McMahon said.

Alexis's mother, Renee Garcia, said yesterday that the two girls had been best friends since fourth grade.

The charges would provide her family with some relief, she said.

"I think it's going to help, as long as we know that he is punished for what he did and it makes other people realize that you can't" buy alcohol for minors, Renee Garcia said. "As a parent, I trusted them. She went to their house all the time; we've been to the beach together. I won't be able to trust any other parents ever again with my other two. You think these people are looking out for them, and it just isn't right."

The girls, both sophomores at the time, were members of the varsity volleyball team at Easthampton High School, where Alexis also played junior varsity basketball, her mother said.

Alexis, who enjoyed listening to music ranging from country to rap, also attended a local gymnastics school and played softball, Renee Garcia said. The school will retire Alexis's volleyball jersey on Oct. 24, her mother said.

Investigators have been unable to determine why Parent bought the vodka for his daughter. "We just can't figure out why he did it," McMahon said. "I think in his mindset, he was just trying to be a nice guy to his daughter. . . . It's kind of a warped sense of doing the right thing."

After reviewing the police investigation, autopsy, and toxicology reports and consulting with medical specialists, prosecutors charged Parent with involuntary manslaughter because his actions constituted wanton and reckless disregard for Garcia's safety, Dunphy Farris said.

Parent cannot be charged with procuring alcohol for his daughter because state law allows adults to provide their children or grandchildren with alcohol on their own property, Dunphy Farris said.

She could not provide further details about the earlier occasions of Parent allegedly supplying alcohol to six teenagers because they were minors.

David P. Hoose, Parent's lawyer, declined to comment on whether Parent disputes the charges against him.

"Tim has been living with this for the past seven months," Hoose said.

"It has been enormously stressful on him and his family. This was a tragic, tragic outcome. He recognizes that whatever stresses and difficulties he's had pale in comparison to whatever difficulties the Garcia family has had to endure," he said.

Parent's daughter will probably be charged in juvenile court with procuring alcohol for a minor within the next month, McMahon said. Parent is due back in court Feb. 14.

Renee Garcia said that she has never drunk alcohol and that her daughter had never tried it before Feb. 2.

"I was shocked that she would drink," Garcia said. "They questioned a lot of kids, and she never drank before. This was the first time. She didn't know what was going to happen to her."

She said she always told Alexis never to drink or use drugs. Now, she wonders whether that was the best approach.

"I don't know if I pushed the right message," Garcia said. "Maybe I should have said, 'If you do drink, don't drink too much.' What do you do as a parent? . . . This is what happens when there's peer pressure with other kids."

"It's sad that her life was cut short because of this, because of [Parent]. She was really a good kid. It was just the one mistake. That's how I look at it. It was the one mistake she made."

Ryan Haggerty can be reached at rhaggerty@globe.com.