NEW YORK (JTA) — A man was found dead, apparently of alcohol poisoning, in the parking lot of a Florida Chabad center following a Purim celebration.
Jesse Allen, 28, was found dead on the morning of March 9 in the parking lot of the Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona by the synagogue’s rabbi, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported March 15.
Allen had attended the synagogue’s Purim party the night before. Rabbi Pinchas Ezagui said there was no alcohol served at the party, but several people had brought their own.
The death apparently was due to alcohol poisoning, but police are awaiting the results of a toxicology report to determine the cause, Ormond Beach Police Lt. Kenny Hayes told the paper.
Ezagui said Allen had become so intoxicated at the party that he had urinated on himself. Another attendee escorted Allen outside to sleep off his drunkenness on the grass.
"It is a very unfortunate situation," Ezagui said. "We don’t know the guy. He is not of the Jewish faith."
Allen’s mother, Lynn, said her son loved Jewish tradition and was struggling to overcome an alcohol problem.
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