The grieving mum of the Donegal boy who died of alcohol poisoning has urged teens to keep an eye on their friends at parties.
Liam McGlinchey, 19, who was from Buncrana, Co Donegal, died after a night out with friends while celebrating passing exams.
Samuel Heroux, 21, and 19-year-old Isaiah DePiazza were charged with criminally negligent homicide earlier this month.
Mum Helen Savastio revealed her heartbreak at the tragedy, but hopes that the upcoming trial will give her some answers.
She said: "It will be really hard to hear all the details about what happened to Liam but at least I'll know.
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"At the moment, I have different scenarios playing out in my head like was he calling out for me as he lay there dying or did he ever regain consciousness after passing out?"
He had suffered alcohol poisoning and passed away after being left outside his grandmother’s house in New York.
Helen said: “So many teenagers and young adults are drinking huge amounts of alcohol but they don't understand that it can be fatal.
"My Liam was 19 and had drank before in Ireland, but he was the last person who you would think would die from alcohol poisoning.”
She added that parents would rather get a call that says their child is unwell than to “wake up to the news that their child has died the next morning”.
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She told the Irish Independent: “There was a misconception that Liam could handle his drink because he was Irish and at the party that night he was challenged to consume a lot of alcohol in a small space of time.”
Helen also said that Liam’s grandmother, Ruth, is blaming herself for his death.
Ruth was looking out the window for the morning paper when she saw a leg in the garden.
She rushed down the stairs to find him lying motionless on the ground.
Helen said: “At her age, finding her young grandson like that is just absolutely horrific. I don't think she'll ever recover from it."
