Young Man Adjudicated Delinquent After MDMA Overdose Kills High Schooler

A young Lower Makefield man was ordered on Tuesday to a juvenile placement facility for his role in the death of a Pennsbury High School student.

Jacob Jasper, 18, was adjudicated delinquent by Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Finley last month and placed in a facility this week for several offenses, including drug delivery resulting in death, involuntary manslaughter, criminal use of a communication facility and three counts of delivery of a controlled substance, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

Adjudicated delinquent means a judge has found a minor guilty of being delinquent and is in need of treatment, supervision, or rehabilitation, the Pennsylvania Criminal Code states.

Prosecutors said Jasper was 17 at the time he was charged. Due to his age, he was tried in a juvenile court.

Evidence presented at a hearing last month laid out that Jasper invited Pennsbury high schooler 18-year-old victim Kyle Valdez to his car last April 14 in the parking lot of Villa Rosa Pizza and Restaurant on Heacock Road in Lower Makefield. Jasper allegedly provided Valdez with MDMA, also know as ecstasy or Molly.

Jasper, according to court papers, was sniffing a lot after taking the MDMA and while smoking Jasper’s Juul in the car.

Around 9:30 p.m. on April 14 when Jasper finished his shift and left work, Valdez was found deceased in the passenger seat of Jasper’s car, prosecutors said.

After finding the body of the high schooler, Jasper reportedly calling a co-worker and said he wanted Valdez out of his car and did not wish to dial police.

Around 10 p.m., police were called and “Jasper seemed uninterested in helping the victim and was instead solely concerned with hiding his backpack from police because it contained drugs,” authorities said.

An autopsy showed that high levels of MDMA were found in Valdez’s blood and were to blame for his death.

Jasper purchased the drugs online using anonymizing software.

Authorities said witnesses told them Jasper had shared MDMA with several other people the evening of Valdez’s death.

“The public should know heroin and other opioids are not the only dangerous drugs on our streets. Stimulants like MDMA can also cause fatal overdoses, and the people pushing those drugs are going to be on the hook for it,” Deputy District Attorney David Keightly said. “Unfortunately, those realizations came too late for the young men in this case.”

“This case is believed to be the first successful prosecution in Pennsylvania for drug delivery resulting in death stemming from the transfer of MDMA,” the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Jasper will be required to make an $18,708.06 restitution payment to Valdez’s family.

Prosecutors said Jasper’s treatment will be reevaluated regularly, and he can remain under the oversight of the court system until he turns 21.

Following Valdez’s death last year, students recalled their friend at a vigil and at a school board meeting.

An obituary said Valdez enjoyed karate, snowboarding, composing music, cars, and was a scuba diver.