Cranbrook student's death was drug overdose
Jay Grossman
Stefan DeClerck was a promising student, a terrific athlete, a loving son.
The 17-year-old Cranbrook student from California was popular with his classmates and teachers. He was looking forward to studying computer science at the University of Michigan. His future seemed bright.
None of that saved him from overdosing on illegal drugs.
The young man was found deceased in his dormitory room last June, the same day he was planning to attend prom. The Oakland County Medical Examiner's report, released Monday, indicates the cause of death was an overdose of synthetic opioids.
"This is a problem that affects all ages, all classes and all professions from blue collar to white collar," Bloomfield Hills Public Safety Director Noel Clason said about the growing opioid crisis in America. "Putting people in jail won't solve it. We need programs that offer education, recovery and support."
In the Bloomfield Hills police report, officers were called to the private school June 7 on reports of an unresponsive male. A Cranbrook instructor had gone to DeClerck's dormitory room earlier that morning to check on him after he failed to show for a final exam. She found him lying in his bed, his skin cold to the touch, with no detectable pulse.
The report describes photographs taken at the dormitory room: prescription pill bottles and an Altoids canister containing suspicious drug paraphernalia. They also took a photograph of a Fitbit watch on the young man's left wrist.
Clay Matthews, director of communications for Cranbrook School, released the following statement Monday: "The entire Cranbrook Schools community was deeply saddened by the loss of one of our own last spring, and the recent conclusion of the investigation is a heartbreaking reminder of his tragic passing and of how much he is truly missed."
'Hi Mom'
During a memorial service that was streamed live via the Internet, Erika DeClerck spoke about her son and his accomplishments.
Stefan DeClerck was recently selected as head of the school's computer and entrepreneurship clubs. He loved classical music and played trumpet in the Cranbrook Kingswood Concert Band. He was the recipient of the McCaul STEM Award and was on the dean's list.
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He won a state championship on the school's varsity lacrosse team in 2015, played ice hockey and spent 2017 on the Cranbrook varsity sailing team. Outside of school, he published five iOS applications on the iTunes Store. He was an accomplished ventriloquist who loved entertaining his family and friends.
She then spoke of the last text she received from her son, at 7:42 a.m. Tuesday, June 6:
"Hi Mom, I picked up my suit. Two more finals left, then I'll be done. I will pack up my room, go to prom, and then I will fly back to California on Thursday. I will send you a picture. Can't wait to see you, I love you ..."
He then signed off with a smiley face.
"I remember last summer I went to his room to say goodnight," Erika DeClerck said to the church full of mourners. "Stefan was surrounded by laptops. He was coding, programming and he said, 'I can't go to bed yet, I have a deadline to get an app done.' He dreamt of owning his own company one day."
Now, she said, her son is teaching people how to code in heaven.
The boy's father, Alan DeClerck, an alumnus of Cranbrook, plans to start a foundation in his son's name to help high school students pursue their dreams.
"I want to focus on all the positive things he did — and how he got there," Alan DeClerck said in a phone interview Monday. "His impact is not that he's gone ... it's all the stuff he did before."
Teenagers and secrets
Investigators suspect DeClerck went online to purchase the synthetic opioids and other drugs found in his dormitory room, but the possible evidence is locked away inside a computer.
Bloomfield Hills police had secured several laptops and a cellphone from the student's room that were taken to the Oakland County computer crimes division for examination. Investigators, however, were unable to access any of the items due to the levels of encryption placed on the devices and the high level of IT safeguards.
Clason said synthetic opioids have taken several young lives in recent years. If there's a lesson to be learned, he said, it's for parents to stay vigilant when it comes to monitoring their children's lives.
"The big picture is these kids are getting something they don't expect," he said. "They think they're taking a Vicodin or something, when in reality they're getting illegally-pressed fentanyl that comes from overseas and is strong enough to kill an elephant."
Clason said synthetic opioids are even more dangerous because they can come in many different forms. It can be in pill form, powder, capsule, liquid or on blotter paper.
"It looks just like a prescription pill," he said. "These kids need to know that anything they purchase online, anything that isn't prescribed by a physician, there's a strong possibility it could seriously harm you … or even kill you."
jgrossman@hometownlife.com
Twitter: @BhmEccentric