Elise Hagmann, Board Member

Kyle's Mom
Contact available through Trinka Porrata
Trinka@projectghb.org
Mother of Kyle Hagmann, a young man whose tragic death from GHB at California Lutheran University was ignored by a law enforcement agency.  The supplier continued to sell GHB and other drugs on the college campus and in the area for three more years before finally being arrested on a drug charge. This is another case where the system failed to bring about closure and justice. Kyle’s case was left on the shelf until it was too late to prosecute for manslaughter. It was submitted to the District Attorney’s Office on May 6, 2002, twelve days after the deadline. California has a three-year statute of limitations for manslaughter cases, though numerous other cases had been successfully prosecuted by that time. The supplier eventually lost his own life to a drug overdose in March 2005. 

After Kyle’s death, Elise and her husband Tony started a charitable golf tournament in Kyle’s memory. The proceeds from the annual tournament benefit Project GHB and the Steven G. Mihaylo Big Bear High School Education Foundation. Through this foundation, the Hagmann’s have established the Kyle Hagmann Memorial Scholarship as a lasting tribute to their only son. This perpetual scholarship is awarded annually to graduating seniors at Big Bear High School, which is the high school Kyle attended. Elise is a board member with the Steven G. Mihaylo Education Foundation and serves on the scholarship committee. 

Elise has spoken to hundreds of high school students over the years, sharing Kyle’s story. Her hope is to prevent another senseless tragedy by educating young people about the dangers of GHB.

“I hope others have learned from what happened to Kyle so no one will ever have to feel the horrible pain of losing a child or a brother or a friend.”