Michael Kruse: Lauren Ortiz died alone on a concrete porch behind the home of a man she barely knew.
Last Sept. 1, on a dark street sometime between 10 and 10:30 p.m., Ortiz, 24, got into a white F-150 truck with shiny rims driven by a 34-year-old man she had heard about through a mutual friend.
Back at his house, on a private road east of Brooksville, she drank four or five shots of Bacardi 151 and a cocktail of Everclear and orange juice, then went out to the porch to vomit. The man rolled her over, moved her head so she wouldn't choke, and went to bed.
A Hernando County sheriff's detective wrote a short report. On Nov. 19, he got the autopsy, which showed her blood alcohol level between .422 and .436, more than five times the legal limit. The report from the medical examiner said Ortiz died from "acute alcohol intoxication" and called her death an accident.
The detective closed the case.
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