AL - Paighton Houston, 29, left bar with 2 men, Birmingham, 20 Dec 2019 *arrests* #6

[MsBetsy]

Let me get this straight, she's sitting in this house smoking weed, having drinks, preparing a mixture of heroin and cocaine, and she suddenly decides to text that she was in trouble and didn't know he people she was with? Come on.

Well, actually, that does not sound out of the ordinary. She could have been feeling great one minute and then started to feel paranoid.
Did her text really say she was in trouble and didn't know who she was with?

Just because she was under the influence of drugs doesn't mean that she could not have rationalized that she may have indulged too much and might be in over her head.

Imo

 

[What if...]

I just feel that if they had evidence of rape, they would have gone after FH harder and made it clear to the public he was wanted in connection with a rape too.

LE has never said there wasn’t trauma to her body - only that no trauma led to her death.
Any forensics relating to rape also may have been lost due to the length of time it took to locate her body.

In regards to warning the general public, that can be a tricky one. If LE formally announced public concern for every violent offender, I’m afraid we would all live in a constant state of fear and paranoia.
MOO, LE often times has a general idea of the threat level posed to the public. People tend to be creatures of habit. They more than likely knew this guy was running scared and was more likely to try and find a deep hole to hide in versus searching out new victims.
Just MOO & my 2¢ worth

 

[ChuckInHouston]

PH died from addiction.

MOO

SBM for length.
I second that. It's sad, It's tragic, but if everyone tries to martyr this victim, then just maybe another lost sole out there will believe that they have their loved ones fooled, and well be reading about their case next.

 

[gremlingrrl]

More and more I'm thinking that her text meant that she felt like she was slipping into an OD and that she didn't think she could count on the people she was with to intercede - and she was right

Yes, this.

 

[bestill]

Sad to read that she overdosed. Her family may never know what really happened that night but speaking from someone who's dealt with addiction...that night could have been any night or day that she was doing drugs. She escaped many times prior to that one night. Sad fact and sad indeed that drugs are what ended up killing her, I do think she was trying...

 

[rickcross]

Sad to read that she overdosed. Her family may never know what really happened that night but speaking from someone who's dealt with addiction...that night could have been any night or day that she was doing drugs. She escaped many times prior to that one night. Sad fact and sad indeed that drugs are what ended up killing her, I do think she was trying...

Unfortunately trying isn't enough sometimes. Its sad. We all have addictions, whether they be drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sweets, carbs or whatever. We can all relate. Sometimes, no matter what your intentions, your cravings simply get the better of you. Anybody who has ever quit smoking can relate to that. P's addiction was unfortunately far more dangerous than any of ours.

Some question why she went off with these strange men. I'm sure she was thinking, like most of us ex smokers, that she could handle one last dance, and that being with strangers would ensure her anonymity. She probably planned on resuming her normal life the next day. Unfortunately that next day just never happened.

 

[jgarris]

DBM

 

[Zella]

I had suspected from the beginning it was an overdose, though I will admit the meth did surprise me. My guess would be PH was never a regular meth user since she doesn't seem to have had any of the tell-tell physical signs of meth use.

I've always heard that heroin becomes morphine once it enters the system. Is that true? If so, it could have been a meth/heroin dose she took that night.

As for PH's mother's statements about what her daughter would and would not do, I've always taken those with a grain of salt. Not because I think she's lying but simply because the image relatives/parents can have of someone is not always the reality of that person's life. And that's true of everyone, I think, and not just people who have addiction issues. Nobody shares their entire life with their parents.

 

[sleepysleuth]

If Paighton had been truly committed to her sobriety and in the right frame of mind to remain sober, she wouldn't have been in a bar in the first place. I hate to be blunt about it, but partying is partying, and just like having a couple of drinks is going to lead to me having a cigarette, her having a couple of drinks is going to lead to her seeking drugs. Addicts are addicts and we make terrible decisions when our guard is down.

I do not think there is any way to tell one way or another if she paid for the drugs - I've both partied for free and paid. She was a pretty girl looking for a good time, it's not out of the question that the men in her company would give her anything for free. I don't really know that it's relevant regardless.

Really sad that she relapsed. I hope her family is able to find peace.

 

[Heroine]

I’m not saying this is the case but people give women drugs everyday in exchange for sex or some other form or gratification. Sometimes men give drugs to women just to have company. I wont deny I have tried my fair share and i never once bought them. Why? Because men think if you are into drugs of any kind it will make you do something for them which I never did but you get my point. ETA not all men lol So no you don’t always have to buy drugs. This is for the people who are saying drugs are expensive she would have to buy them but that’s just not the case. I know men who never did drugs just kept drugs on hand for when females were around.

 

[PhineasC]

I’m not saying this is the case but people give women drugs everyday in exchange form sex or some other form or gratification. I wont deny I have tried my fair share and i never once bought them. Why? Because men think if you are into drugs or anybody kind it will make you do something for them which I never did but you get my point. So no you don’t always have to buy drugs. This is for the people who are saying drugs are expensive she would have to buy them but that’s just not the case. I know men who never did drugs just kept drugs on hand for when females were around.

It's definitely possible she offered up sexual favors in exchange for drugs, or that FH and friends gave her drugs hoping she'd offer that up, or at least be so high she wouldn't be able to fight back against them.

 

[jgarris]

Outside of an apartment vs. a house on McClain, this lines up exactly with what I thought the outcome would be. (Post #48 in Thread #4)

We've all been pretty keyed on to the OD factor, but have steered clear of victim-blaming. Like, @sleepysleuth said, it's not good for someone recovering (especially so fresh into the recovery) to be at a bar...especially if they were vulnerable from an earlier argument or anything of the such. I believe the co-worker was being truthful. I also believe the co-worker likely knew what PH was going to do, and probably didn't immediately say it to her family.

This sucks, all around.

 

[Deleted member 110058]

If Paighton had been truly committed to her sobriety and in the right frame of mind to remain sober, she wouldn't have been in a bar in the first place. I hate to be blunt about it, but partying is partying, and just like having a couple of drinks is going to lead to me having a cigarette, her having a couple of drinks is going to lead to her seeking drugs. Addicts are addicts and we make terrible decisions when our guard is down.

We have read this over and over on this thread. Do we have any indication that CH grasped this?

 

[Zella]

We have read this over and over on this thread. Do we have any indication that CH grasped this?

I've been surprised from the beginning that nobody in PH's circle (family or friend) seemed to have expressed concern/surprise about her plans to be in a bar, though admittedly I've heard conflicting information on what the original plans were. If they did object/think it was a bad idea, it has never been disclosed.

 

[Van Helsing]

Someone posted earlier about functional addicts. MOO, considering all that I know in this case, everything seems to start making sense when I look at it from this perspective. Out of respect for the victim and family we don't give these kinds of explanations much discussion and it should probably stay that way.
In this scenario FH and others may be charged with something related to failing to render aid to an OD victim (which might include homicide), but I wonder if Jeffco LE would treat this case any different than any other voluntary drug OD death (if that is what they think it is). MOO

 

[Heroine]

I've been surprised from the beginning that nobody in PH's circle (family or friend) seemed to have expressed concern/surprise about her plans to be in a bar, though admittedly I've heard conflicting information on what the original plans were. If they did object/think it was a bad idea, it has never been disclosed.

Well multiple people said she didn’t want to go maybe this is why. They weren’t exactly her plans but her friends who she went with to keep her safe.

 

[Deleted member 110058]

I've been surprised from the beginning that nobody in PH's circle (family or friend) seemed to have expressed concern/surprise about her plans to be in a bar, though admittedly I've heard conflicting information on what the original plans were. If they did object/think it was a bad idea, it has never been disclosed.

Thanks Zella. Would be one thing if PH had always hid the addiction from them....so they were blindsided.

 

[Zella]

Well multiple people said she didn’t want to go maybe this is why. They weren’t exactly her plans but her friends who she went with to keep her safe.

Yeah I've also wondered if the fact it was for a concert in a bar made people less likely to register concern than if it was just going to a bar in general.

 

[Deleted member 110058]

Well multiple people said she didn’t want to go maybe this is why. They weren’t exactly her plans but her friends who she went with to keep her safe.

Interesting. So her friends were supposed to keep HER safe? There are a million things that they could have done to keep her safe...but they went home and went to bed instead of responding to the text!

 

[Momof4RN]

DBM!