Coroner no longer naming LSD as only cause of Lightning in a Bottle death
–An initial coroner’s report listed the cause of death of 20-year-old Baylee Ybarra Gatlin as acute lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) toxicity. New information added to the coroner’s report, dated Sept 12, lists causes of death as: multi-organ failure, hyperthermia (overheating) and dehydration, and coagulopathy and “possible LSD intoxication” listed as “other significant conditions contributing to death.” Coagulopathy is a condition in which the blood’s ability to from clots is impaired.
In the original report Rory Linn, Detective Coroner, said the hospital staff reported that Gatlin had “temperatures of 105 degrees prior to arrival at the hospital and 103 degrees while being treated at the hospital.” According to the report, hospital staff reported to Linn “approximately 4800 ml of fluid was removed from the decedent’s lungs at the hospital.”
The update to the original report added more details to the timeline of events. Around 7 p.m. May 27, Gatlin was taken to the “Zen Dome” tent at the Lightning in a Bottle Music Festival, after being found by friends about an hour earlier “exhibiting an altered mental status.” The tent was an area designated for patrons of the festival who “were having bad reactions to drugs and also attended to by medical staff.” The ambulance was dispatched at 1:08 a.m. on Sunday and left for Twin Cities Community Hospital with Gatlin at 1:36 a.m., arriving at the hospital at 2:14 a.m. The original report included the statement that Gatlin lost vital signs in the ambulance and “CPR life-saving efforts were administered” in the ambulance until the hospital staff took over. Gatlin passed away in the emergency room at 3:42 a.m. Gatlin had been at the festival since May 24.
The original report said that a search of Gatlin’s property at the hospital “revealed suspected marijuana, gummy candies, and unknown capsule type pills.” The items were sent to Central Valley Toxicology laboratories for analysis. “The gummy candy revealed the presence of LSD and the capsules revealed the presence of methamphetamine.”
Calls to Dr. Gary Walter, the corner performing the autopsy, and to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office to determine what led to re-examining the case have not yet been returned.
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