Weird Deaths

I wonder how this happened? Helium is inert, but it doesn't sustain life either:

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A man and woman who threw a party for teens featuring booze and marijuana will spend time behind bars for their roles in the death of an Oregon girl who died after inhaling helium.

The two adults dropped their not guilty pleas Tuesday in Jackson County Circuit Court in Medford on criminal charges stemming from the 2012 death of 14-year-old Ashley Long.

...Ashley’s mother, Lori Earp, showed the courtroom a lock of hair she said was all she had left of her daughter. Stepfather Justin Earp described Ashley as a bright and compassionate girl who wanted to be a marine biologist.

This sounds like a Joe the Plumber kind of death:

WHIPPOORWILL, Ariz. (AP) _ Authorities say a woman killed her boyfriend on the Navajo Nation after he told her to shoot him.

Carmelita Williams faces a second-degree murder charge.

She told authorities that her boyfriend had physically and verbally assaulted her last week in Whippoorwill. According to court documents, the boyfriend blocked the door of a hogan, gave Williams a pistol and told her she couldn't leave unless she shot him.

Williams says her boyfriend pointed the pistol at himself while she held it in her left hand. She then fired a round into his chest, holding her son in the other arm.

Williams told authorities she tried to call 911 but did not have cellphone service, and her relatives' phones didn't work either.