Eli Stai News Today

Activists, getting out the word on the dangers of synthetic drugs. thanks to their efforts north dakota has put in new legislation banning a number of synthetics, and federally the drug that killed christian and elijah is now on the list of banned substances. >> the stuff is not safe just because you can order it on the internet. dont be fooled by that. dont put yourself and your family in the position that these families in grand forks found themselves. talk to your kids, that synthetic drugs a...

Eli wasnt breathing. he was blue in the face. of. >> you had so call your mom? >> i called her while i was outside waiting for 911. >> and told her? >> told her eli died. >> were you able to fully tell her why? >> no. i was ashamed of myself for failing him, more or less. i felt like i failed him. >> justin was a teen when elis family took him in. eli suffered multiple organ failures and went into cardiac arrest, cutting the oxygen supply to his brain.

For additional information, but the visas have not been granted. requests for an interview or comment from chinas ambassador here in the u.s. have gone unanswered. >> this is the funeral for eli and -- >> alyssa katz, elijah stais mother, doesnt understand what there is to negotiate. chinese factories are making a fortune, she says, selling poison. >> what would you like to say to them? >> how dare you come into my country and sell drugs to our children? >> do you think they care? >> no. they do...

Both he and eli stai consumed some of those chocolates andli stai died from them. >> 1,400 miles away in a suburb of houston, texas -- >> whoo. >> -- a father and entrepreneur named charles carlton was oblivious to the fact that an unraveling chain of events in grand forks was about to turn his world upside down. >> i always kind of enjoyed the psychedelic experience. and it started with experimenting with lsd in high school. and then i started ordering, you know, what people would call designer...

Deadly chain of events. one of his customers, adam budge, had broken into spoffords home and stolen a bag of white powder. without knowing exactly what was inside that bag or just how potent it was. budge melted the powder into chocolate that he gave to his new friends, including elijah stai. budge also sold some of the same drug to a young man who would share it with christian bjerk. >> adam budge early on in the investigation was the common link between these two overdose victims. adam budge p...

Its a horrific thing to ever have to go through, for any parent. eli was a good kid. this can happen to any family. >> i talk to a lot of people during the course of a day or the course of a month, and you know, if it comes up, we have this conversation, and most people still dont know what they are. they dont know what the drugs are or how badly they can impact their lives. well, were witnessing the impact now. weve had this horrible loss. we lost a child. we didnt know about the drugs. we know...

>> you were really tripping. >> yeah, i was like oh, my god. you know, like this is getting really intense. >> downstairs, elijah stai was beginning to convulse. >> adam was already down there with eli. he had told me that eli was going into a bad trip. and i asked him, i was like, do we need to call 911? i was like no, its jut -- just mushrooms. hes going to be fine. hes just going into a bad trip. >> he started to i guess foam at the mouth, yelling. i guess he was hitting his head, just convul...

>> okay, wheres the house? >> its east grand forks. i dont think hes breathing at all. >> no, hes dead. >> we need somebody now. >> i know. >> can you guys start cpr with him? >> it was three days before elis birthday. >> he would be 18? >> yeah. he wanted to go to grand forks to see his cousin and spend time there with justin. >> melissa katzs son, elijah stai, was in grand forks to celebrate an upcoming birthday. he was with his foster brother, justin rippentropp. >> what were you planning tha...

>> we need an ambulance. we have a kid here whos not breathing. >> okay, wheres the house? >> its east grand forks. i dont think hes breathing at all. >> no, hes dead. we need somebody now. >> i know. >> can you guys start cpr with him? >> it was three days before elis birthday. >> he would be 18? >> yeah. he wanted to go to grand forks to see his cousin and spend time there with justin. >> melissa katzs son, elijah stai, was in grand forks to celebrate an upcoming birthday. he was with his fost...

>> he just gave eli and i the bag and said here you go, have fun. we just kind of started taking bites out of it and just eating it. it tasted just like chocolate. didnt taste anything bad. no chemical taste or anything. it was just chocolate. and we just ended up splitting the bag. it was nothing like anything ive had before. i was -- i was kind of scared, but i was like reassuring myself and like subconscious that its just mushrooms, its just mushrooms. >> it wasnt just psychedelic mushrooms. ...