Teen's overdose ruled accidental

Editor's note: This story originally ran on March 29, 2002 as part of the Daily Herald's "Hidden Scourge: Heroin in the Suburbs" series.

A Glendale Heights teen died earlier this year after ingesting a fatal amount of heroin, a coroner's inquest confirmed Thursday.

A jury ruled the death of Gregory "GJ" Hopkinson an accident after reviewing autopsy results and listening to testimony of two police officers who investigated the overdose.

Hopkinson, 19, died Jan. 19 after he and a close friend shot heroin into their veins. The friend, who is from Roselle, survived.

Hopkinson's family and friends suspected he had died of heroin. The teen began using the drug about eight months earlier, shortly after buying his own condo in Glendale Heights. He died there, just one day before he was supposed to move back home to Hanover Park.

At the inquest, Glendale Heights police Detective Robert Swartz said the friend admitted he and Hopkinson had driven to Chicago around noon that day and bought four small packets of heroin for $10 each.

Hopkinson is believed to have injected 2 1/2 bags. The teens fell asleep. The friend told Swartz he heard Hopkinson snoring around 6 p.m. but, when he awoke three hours later, Hopkinson was unresponsive.

Swartz said he found myriad syringes, needles, foil packets, smoking pipes and other drug paraphernalia inside the youth's bedroom. Authorities ruled out suicide or foul play in the teen's death.

Hopkinson, an aspiring songwriter, was loved by many friends and family. He is survived by his parents, Elizabeth and Doug, and two brothers, as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. His parents plans to scatter his ashes in the Seattle area, where Hopkinson wanted to live and follow in the footsteps of his idol, the late grunge icon Kurt Cobain.