No charges in contest water intoxication death

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—No criminal charges will be filed in the death of a woman who suffered lethal water intoxication after participating in a radio station's water-drinking contest, the Sacramento County, Calif., district attorney said.

The woman, 28-year-old Jennifer Strange, was an adult who volunteered to participate in the contest and could have left at any time, the district attorney's office said in a Monday statement. In addition, Ms. Strange did not demonstrate to any station personnel that she was in physical distress that required medical attention. Therefore, radio station personnel owed her no special duty of care, the statement said.

Ms. Strange competed in the Jan. 12 contest sponsored by Sacramento, Calif., radio station KDND-FM, which is owned by Entercom Communications Corp. of Bala Cynwyd, Pa. Contestants competed for a Nintendo Wii game system (BI, Feb. 5).

The Strange case is different from the high-profile prosecution in the water intoxication death of a college student during a hazing incident, because hazing is a misdemeanor, the prosecutor's statement noted.