Sheriff’s Office releases report about deadly teen party

An incident report about an alcohol-fueled house party that left one teen dead and two others hospitalized paints a portrait of a high school party gone tragically wrong.

The report, released Monday by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, describes the aftermath of a night of teenage drinking that led to the death of Whale Branch Early College High School senior William Thompson, 18, of Beaufort, early Sunday morning.

Deputies arrived at the house in the 500 block of Parris Island Gateway at about 2 a.m. Sunday to find a yard littered with beer cans and a house that had a Captain Morgan’s rum bottle and shot glasses in the open. Teens who appeared to be intoxicated were strewn around the house sleeping and sitting on the front stairs, the report stated.

Deputies took photographs of the house and collected empty alcohol containers as evidence, the report said.

Two teenage boys were found in serious condition and were transported by sheriff’s deputies to Beaufort Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Thompson, who was found unresponsive on the floor at his Mint Farm Drive home, was declared dead at the hospital early Sunday morning.

No parents were present at the home where the party took place when deputies arrived, Capt. Bob Bromage of the Sheriff’s Office said Sunday.

A forensic autopsy of Thompson’s body is being performed at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Toxicology studies to determine his blood alcohol level and the presence of any drugs will take several weeks.

Criminal charges will be considered for those responsible for providing alcohol to minors at the party, the Sheriff’s Office has said.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Sheriff’s Office releases report about deadly teen party."