EVERETT, Wash. (AP) – A 19-year-old Washington state man, who police say raped a high school student as she died from a drug overdose and texted semi-nude photos of her, has been charged with manslaughter.
Brian Roberto Varela of Lynnwood was also charged Friday in Snohomish County Superior Court with second-degree rape and controlled substance homicide in the death of 18-year-old Alyssa Mae Noceda.
According to court documents, Varela told detectives that Noceda snorted Percocet and also ingested liquid marijuana before collapsing in his room the previous weekend.
Authorities say Varela never sought help for Noceda, instead sending semi-nude photos of her to friends and texting “LOL, I think she od’d, still breathing.”
Authorities say his co-worker contacted police Tuesday after Varela said he didn’t know if Noceda was still alive when he was having sex with her. Court records say he told a friend that “she died having sex with me.”
Police arrested Varela later that day after executing a search warrant and finding Noceda’s body in a plastic crate at the suspect’s home.
Varela told investigators he planned to bury Noceda with onions to minimize the odor, police said. He also told detectives that after Noceda died, he used her thumb to unlock her phone Feb. 4 and send messages to make it appear she had run away.
Friends of Noceda, a student at Mariner High School, held a vigil for her on Friday with more than a hundred people taking part, including her mother.
“The night that she left she told me, she said, ‘Mom, I love you,'” said Gina Pierson.
Online jail records did not show if Varela has an attorney to comment on his behalf.
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