Woman sentenced to 2 years in friend’s overdose death

Published 3:35 pm Tuesday, February 10, 2009

EVERETT – A judge this afternoon sentenced a Lake Stevens woman to nearly two years in prison for the 2007 overdose death of Kyla Helvey.

Mallori Smith, 24, pleaded guilty in October to second-degree manslaughter in Snohomish County Superior Court. She was accused of providing a powerful rave party drug to Helvey, 21, during a hot tub party and failing to call 911 after the Everett woman collapsed.

A second woman Brooke James, 21, recently pleaded to a drug charge in connection with Helvey’s death.

Prosecutors allege that the three women gathered to soak in a hot tub and have some drinks. Smith started talking about GHB — gamma hydroxybutric acid. The drug is known as a date rape drug, as well as an enhancement drug for body builders.

Helvey had never tried the drug. The girls mixed the drug with energy drinks and shared the concoction, according to court documents. At one point, Helvey reportedly drank straight from the water bottle containing the drug, prosecutors wrote. She collapsed on the floor.

Smith and James tried to move Helvey to a couch but eventually left her on the floor. They went to sleep. Several hours later Smith awoke and discovered that Helvey wasn’t breathing.

Helvey was dead before paramedics arrived.