Kathryn Alline Birge certainly

played a role in her own death.

But the way authorities see

it, the 20-year-old Florida woman had some help. She was found dead of

an apparent drug overdose in a home on Dawn Drive in Fayette County just

before Christmas.

Birge, a Dunedin native, was

staying with friends here before the holidays, said Maj. Bruce Jordan

of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department.

Her death almost led to murder

charges for three different suspects. Police believe the suspects helped

her obtain the cocaine-heroin-benzo mixture she mainlined, which likely

caused her death.

Trouble is, all three suspects

were high when the incident took place, leaving none of them credible

as witnesses, Jordan said.

"We were looking at the

people who drove her to get the drugs and who gave her the paraphernalia

to use the drugs," Jordan said.

Charges haven't been filed

because of a lack of evidence at this time, said assistant District Attorney

Jim Harden. He said the Sheriff's Department conducted a thorough investigation

and will continue to probe the death.

"They just don't have

enough evidence at this time to go after anyone in particular," Harden

said.

The case will remain open and

if new evidence is received, murder charges still could be sought, Jordan

added.

Any person who commits a felony

that could end up in someone's death could be charged with murder, Jordan

pointed out.

"If you did as little

as hand them the syringe, that's the proverbial loaded gun," Jordan

said.

Deputies reported to a residence

at 140 Dawn Drive when a 911 call was received when Birge wouldn't wake

up. The investigation revealed that she was driven into Atlanta to acquire

the drugs that eventually took her life, Jordan said.

That help for a friend could

have led directly to the murder charge alone, Jordan said. Same goes for

the person who gave her the paraphernalia used to inject the drug, he

added.

The theory is simple. If you

commit a felony and someone else dies because of that crime, you can be

held accountable for murder under Georgia law, Jordan said.

"Each and every case like

this, we're going to look at everybody who was involved in the drug transaction,"

he said.

The case is not closed on Birge's

death, either. If new evidence comes forward, charges can still be sought

in the suspected homicide, Jordan added.