16-year-old's death being investigated

A 16-year-old Elgin boy died in October of alcohol poisoning. Police now want to know who gave the boy the alcohol.

Thursday, January 3rd 2008, 9:02 am

By: News 9

Elgin--Police in Elgin said they're opening a criminal investigation into the death of a 16-year-old boy because a medical examiner's report shows he died of alcohol poisoning.

Dakota Johnson died after being found unconscious in the backyard of his home on morning of October 7, 2007. Police Chief Carl Bremenkamp said the boy's blood-alcohol level was 0.39 - nearly five times the legal intoxication level of 0.08.

He said Johnson had a liter of vodka and drank it within about 14 hours. Detectives will re-interview people who gave vague information earlier and will interview some additional people to try and determine what happened, Bremenkamp said.

Police are trying to determine who gave Johnson the vodka and whether he shared it with anyone else.