Burnsville teen visiting NDSU campus died of natural causes, family says
Devin Delaney
BURNSVILLE, Minn. (KMSP) - The family of a Burnsville, Minnesota, teenager found dead in a North Dakota State University dorm room last month says he died of natural causes.
Seventeen-year-old Devin Delaney, a Burnsville High School student, was visiting friends at NDSU when was found unresponsive inside Sevrinson Hall shortly after noon on Sept. 17. Paramedics tried reviving him, but were unsuccessful. At the time, police said there were no signs of foul play.
In a statement released through their attorney, the Delaney family said they have received the autopsy report from the medical examiner.
“Devin died peacefully in his sleep due to a cardiac dysrhythmia caused by Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart often caused by a viral infection,” according to the statement.
The family says Devin never showed any indications of a heart ailment. Doctors with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are conducting an etiology study on Devin, the results of which will be released to the family.
The family says they never suspected Devin’s death was caused by drugs or alcohol, despite what was insinuated in the media and online. They hope the autopsy results will “relieve any sense of guilt” the friends he was with may have felt after his death.
“This affected those he was with the most,” his family said in a statement.