Police probe events that led to BTHS teen's death

So far there is no evidence that a 16- year-old Brick Township High School student died as a result of playing the "Choking Game" found on the Internet, the chief of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office homicide division said.

"At this juncture in the investigation we have no evidence to show this was a result of a choking game or any other version of that game," said Capt. Thomas Hayes, head of the homicide division of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

The Prosecutor's Office and township police are conducting a joint investigation into the death of Kyle Richard Guidice, who was found unconscious in his home on Nov, 8 with a ligature around his neck, Hayes said.

Kyle died on Nov. 15 at Ocean Medical Center, where he was taken shortly after he was discovered.

The Ocean County Medical Examiner's Office examined the boy's body and concluded that Guidice died from anoxic encephalopathy due to hanging, Hayes said.

"That means brain death due to lack of oxygen," Hayes said late last week. "But the manner is undetermined."

Kyle was still alive when police and paramedics found him. They performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him and then transported him to Ocean Medical Center, Hayes said.

"There are some questions," Hayes said. "We don't close the door on any investigation until we feel we have pursued all aspects of the investigation."

Kyle had been on a respirator since he was taken to the hospital, he said.

Police officers responded to the home where Kyle lived with is father and stepmother on Nov. 8, after someone placed a call about an "unconscious, unresponsive" person, Brick Police Capt. John E. Rein Jr. said.

"There was at least on individual in the house that found him," he said.

When officers arrived, they found family members attempting to do CPR on the boy, Rein said.

"We're trying to talk to everybody around at the time," Rein said. "We do not believe it was a purposefully done act, either by himself or somebody against him. It appears right now that somehow, he lost consciousness because of some form of asphyxiation."

The federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention defines the "Choking Game" as self-strangulation or strangulation by another person with the hands or noose to achieve a brief euphoric state caused by cerebral hypoxia, according to the CDC's Web site.

Kyle is survived by his father and stepmother, Richard and Nancy Guidice; his brother, Dustin Knause; six step-brothers, Sean, Randy and Kevin Chafe Jr, and Patrick, Michael and Sean McKeegan; his maternal grandparents, Wayne and Leone Knause' his paternal grandparents, Maryann and Richard Guidice and many aunts, uncles and cousins. His funeral was held on Nov. 14.