UI student Caden Young died in Western Washington; two people arrested on drug charges in connection to his death

MOSCOW, Idaho – Two people have been arrested in an incident involving the death of a University of Idaho student in Centralia, Washington.

UI announced Thursday that Caden Young, a junior from Boise, had died while away from Moscow.

On Tuesday, the Centralia Police Department announced that a 22-year-old male was found deceased at a Centralia apartment and two people were arrested in connection to his death.

Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod on Friday confirmed the person who died was Young. His official cause of death is still undetermined pending a toxicology report.

According to a Centralia Police Department news release, officers were dispatched to an apartment after a friend found the victim unconscious and not breathing. He was declared deceased at the apartment.

“A preliminary investigation revealed information that illegal drug use was involved in the cause of death,” the news release said.

Evidence led police to identify two people who were allegedly involved in providing illegal drugs to Young.

Police arrested 22-year-old Emma Bailey, of Moscow, and 36-year-old Demetrius Robinson, of Tacoma, for delivery of a controlled substance. They were booked into Lewis County Jail.

The Chronicle newspaper of Centralia reported Wednesday that Bailey and Robinson are accused of delivering cocaine to the victim before he overdosed at a party in Seattle the night before he died. The victim reportedly received care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and was later discharged and picked up by the friend, who lives in Centralia.

According to the Chronicle, the friend told law enforcement the man went to sleep and stopped breathing shortly before the friend called 911.

Based on the Centralia Police Department’s news release, it appears police suspect fentanyl was involved as they offered a warning about the deadly drug.

“With the recent amounts of deadly Fentanyl that have been seized in our area, the Centralia Police Department and (Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team) have made it a priority to not only reduce the manufacturing, distributing, and transporting illegal drugs and guns within our community, but to also identify and arrest all the subjects who involved in the delivery of illegal deadly drugs like Fentanyl,” the news release states.

According to UI, Young was majoring in journalism in the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. He was a past president of the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity.