Evidence Shows Midwest City Teen Found Dead Was 'Huffing' Freon

No foul play is suspected in the death of a 13-year-old boy found at a next door neighbor's house.<br />

Monday, November 28th 2011, 1:16 pm

By: News 9

No foul play is suspected in the death of a 13-year-old boy found at a next door neighbor's house. Police say the teen apparently was huffing Freon from the air conditioning unit based on evidence found at the scene.

According to police, Raymond Randall King III, left his house early Friday, November 25. When family members could not find him a few of hours later, they began searching.

At 6:15 p.m., King was found at 509 Country Lane unresponsive. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. King was a student at Nicoma Park Middle School.

The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's office said his cause of death is pending awaiting a toxicology report. The results of that report could take three to six months. However, foul play is not suspected. According to medical experts, huffing Freon can cause extreme harm or as in this case, death due to asphyxiation.

"The age of social media and Internet access, allows society the ability to learn about things they shouldn't be doing. This is a prime example of one of them," said Chief Brandon Clabes, Midwest City Police Department. "Our hope is that every responsible parent sits down with their child tonight and underlines the dangers that are associated with illegal use of drugs, intoxicants, alcohol or whatever else is available so that a senseless death like this can be avoided."

According to the American Association of Poison Control, statistics nationwide show there have been more than 2000 reported cases of huffing Freon since 2009. In those cases, the individuals had to be hospitalized. AAPC indicates only 2 deaths have been reported until Friday's incident.

"Even though this is a tremendous tragedy for the family, hopefully something helpful can come out of this situation," said Chief Clabes. "I personally had never heard of huffing Freon to get high—we know the slang for it is called "chasing the rat" and if you see or hear a conversation of this nature, be very alarmed."