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Police: 16-year-old dies of alcohol poisoning

WOODSTOCK, Ga. — A 16-year-old Cherokee County boy was found dead Friday morning and police suspect alcohol is to blame.

Investigators are still trying to figure out who gave the Woodstock High School rising sophomore liquor. They're trying to create an outline of Thursday night's events that led up to the death.

The boy's friends said he was a good guy with a big heart. Ashley McMichael is still trying to grasp what happened. She said she found her best friend of six years dead inside an apartment.

"He always took up for me. He was a wonderful person," she told Channel 2's Liz Artz.

Investigators have not yet released his name.

Police said at 7:30 a.m., they were called to a Woodstock apartment and found the boy dead.

"There is no foul play suspected, except for the fact he's not old enough to buy alcohol," Cherokee County Lt. Jay baker said.

The boy's friends said he went to a party and was dared to chug two bottles of liquor. They said by the time he got back to the apartment complex, his breathing was labored and he didn't make it through the night.