A popular Miramonte High School teen died on May 23 from binge drinking at an unsupervised party in Orinda.

Joseph Loudon, 16, collapsed after a house party where teens had been illegally drinking heavily. 

Police have arrested both a 16-year-old and the party’s host, 18-year-old Patrick Gabrielli, on suspicion of furnishing alcohol to minors and contributing to the delinquency of minors. 

Partygoers alerted the paramedics when Loudon passed out drunk and was unresponsive. Shortly after arriving at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Walnut Creek, Loudon was pronounced dead.

Loudon was a star athlete at Miramonte, where he was a leader of their track and football teams. The party he attended was a celebration of the regional rugby team in which Loudon and Gabrielli were teammates.

“He was a good Christian kid and a great competitor,” said junior Andy Bilich, Loudon’s rugby teammate.

Though the autopsy is not complete, officials say that Loudon’s death was apparently a result of alcohol poisoning.

“Joe was a great guy,” said junior Ryan Cook, also Loudon’s rugby teammate. “He just messed up once, and that’s all it took.”