Second possible overdose death in Burien in just seven days

BURIEN, Wash. — A second man may have died of a drug overdose in the same part of downtown Burien in just seven days. Now the mayor is blaming the King County Sheriff for not acting to remove this encampment.

The second possible overdose death happened at about 4:30 Saturday afternoon.

The mayor insists it was definitely a drug overdose, asking “What else could it be?” We are still awaiting confirmation from the King County Medical Examiner.

But this is now political. It’s causing a furor in Burien between the Mayor and the King County Sheriff.   The mayor is blaming these overdoses on the sheriff.

And the Sheriff is blaming the City of Burien. All of it over a recently passed camping ban that the King County Sheriff says is likely unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, this latest death here may be the second fatal overdose in just one week and a lot of people are grieving.

Feelings are still raw here after a man died in a tent Saturday afternoon of a possible drug overdose.

“When ‘Nature’s’ lifeless body was just on the floor, I seen all of the City Council members, just pulling their phones out and taking pictures as if he didn’t matter to anybody,” said a woman who did not want to be identified.

She says they share his desperate circumstances.

“He had no hope that there was ever going to be housing because of this fight,” she said.

That fight is between the City of Burien and the King County Sheriff. Mayor Kevin Shilling accusing the Sheriff of being unwilling to talk about her decision to seek guidance from the court rather than enforce the city’s recent camping ban. So, Shilling held a news conference last week to ask for a meeting to resolve their impasse.

“We’re in an untenable situation,” said Mayor Shilling. “And so, we are requesting the Sheriff to start enforcing the ordinance that they’ve been enforcing for months before this public fight started.  And then come to the table with us.”

If Saturday’s death was a drug overdose, it will be the second in just seven days.  Thirty-five-year-old Eddie Andrade suffered a fatal overdose inside a bathroom in the Burien Public Library last Saturday.  His sister says she regrets that his last moments were in such a public place.

“We think about that all the time,” said Melissa Andrade. “We, because we have family members in that, show grace because we know that you know it’s a sickness. It’s a disease. Nobody grows up wanting to be a drug addict.”

She predicts his death won’t be the last.

“It’s only going to get worse,” Andrade said. “You know something’s gotta be done.”

KIRO 7 reached out to King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall.  But a spokesman says she won’t have a response until tomorrow at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the standoff between the sheriff and the City of Burien and this encampment remains.

©2024 Cox Media Group