DATE: Wednesday, November 12, 1997          TAG: 9711120496

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                        LENGTH:   30 lines

TECH DORMITORY DEATH RULED AN ACCIDENT

Virginia Tech police ruled Tuesday that the death of an 18-year-old student who rolled out of an eighth-floor dormitory window was accidental, but that her alcohol consumption contributed to the fatal fall.

Melinda Somers of Arlington had a blood-alcohol content of 0.21, nearly three times the level where a person is considered intoxicated in Virginia, which is 0.08, Police Chief Mike Jones said.

After attending off-campus parties on Halloween, Somers returned to her room and went to sleep. Before dawn on Nov. 1, the 5-foot-7, 105-pound woman rolled from her bed out of an open window and slid out. She died from massive chest and abdominal injuries.

Police theorized that disorientation led her to roll out of the low open window next to her bed.

``Although we believe consumption of alcohol was a contributing factor, we see no other explanation than ruling this a bizarre and most unusual accident,'' Jones said.

Somers' death came two weeks after she was charged with using a fake driver's license to purchase alcohol at a Blacksburg supermarket. She had been scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

Campus police and state Alcoholic Beverage Control officers are investigating where she obtained alcohol.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu