{"id":192515,"date":"2026-04-10T18:28:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/192515\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T18:28:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:28:44","slug":"teenage-beauty-queen-died-after-drinking-influencer-linked-energy-drink-family-says-in-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/192515\/","title":{"rendered":"Teenage beauty queen died after drinking influencer-linked energy drink, family says in lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Texas<\/a> family is suing the distributor of a popular energy drink<\/a>, claiming that the beverage was linked to the death of their daughter. \u200b<\/p>\n

Larissa Rodriguez, a 17-year-old from Hidalgo County along the southern border<\/a>, died after suffering a \u201cfatal cardiac event,\u201d according to a wrongful death lawsuit<\/a> filed by her parents.<\/p>\n

The teen bought at least one Alani Nu Energy Drink from an H-E-B store shortly before she passed away on October 20, 2025, according to court documents. The drink is endorsed by personal trainer and influencer Katy Hearn.<\/p>\n

The document also says that Rodriguez\u2019s cause of death was listed as cardiomyopathy caused by excessive caffeine<\/a> consumption by the Hidalgo County Medical Examiner.<\/p>\n

The Rodriguez family\u2019s attorney, Benny Agosto Jr., told reporters on Wednesday that the teen began drinking Alani Nu\u2019s products after seeing posts about their wellness benefits online<\/a>. \u200b<\/p>\n

\"Larissa<\/p>\n

Larissa Rodriguez died in October 2025 after a ‘fatal cardiac event,’ according to a lawsuit filed by her family (Salinas Funeral Home)<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, she got into it because of social media and other social interaction with young people,\u201d he said. \u201cAt some point, she was enamored by it.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

The attorney added that it was \u201ccommon\u201d for Rodriguez to drink an Alani Nu product at school<\/a> or before sports activities. At one point, she was drinking as many as one energy drink per day and even posted about the product herself.<\/p>\n

Agosto also said that the teenager had no pre-existing heart conditions <\/a>or heart-related problems. \u200b<\/p>\n

When Rodriguez was tested for drugs<\/a>, Agosto claimed that \u201ceverything was negative, not one trace of alcohol or anything. The only thing she had in her system was caffeine.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit, one 12-fluid-ounce can of an Alani Nu Energy Drink contains 200 milligrams of caffeine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The document cites a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics for no more than 100 milligrams of caffeine per day for children aged 12 to 17.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit also suggests that the product contains an \u201cundisclosed quantity of taurine,\u201d and a \u201cvaguely described \u2018energy blend,\u2019\u201d that does not detail the individual amounts of ingredients comprising the blend. \u200b<\/p>\n

\"Alani<\/p>\n

Alani Nu sells a wide range of flavored energy drinks and other wellness products (Alani Nu)<\/p>\n

On the Alani Nu website<\/a>, the company states that it works hard to \u201cproduce wellness and fitness products you can trust.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

The wellness brand\u2019s cans are stamped with warnings which state that the drinks are \u201cnot recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women or women who are nursing.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

The lawsuit claims, though, that the brand\u2019s marketing is \u201cparticularly deceptive because it positions the product as part of a healthy, active lifestyle while concealing the substantial cardiac and neurological risks associated with its concentrated caffeine and stimulant ingredients.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

Alani Nu, nor its owner, Celsius Holdings Inc., which acquired the company for $1.8 billion, is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Hearn, who co-founded Alani Nu in 2018, is also not named as a defendant.\u200b<\/p>\n

The family is suing distributors Glazer\u2019s Beer and Beverage LLC and Glazer\u2019s Beer and Beverage of Texas LLC.\u200b<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The brand\u2019s drinks are marketed with bright colors and are popular amongst influencers (Alani Nu)<\/p>\n

Agosto said that the distributor was named because they \u201cfail to give any warnings,\u201d but did not rule out adding other defendants to the lawsuit. \u200bThe family is seeking $1 million in damages.\u200b<\/p>\n

According to her obituary<\/a>, Rodriguez had won titles including Miss Texas Onion Fest in Weslaco and Junior Miss Weslaco. She was also hoping to attend the University of Texas at Austin in order to pursue a career in law.<\/p>\n

\u201cLarissa’s legacy of love, compassion, and determination will endure in the hearts of those she touched,\u201d the obituary continues. \u201cHer memory shall live on in the kindness she inspired, the goals she pursued, and the dreams she fostered.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Celsius Holdings Inc. said in a statement obtained by NBC News <\/a>that the product’s caffeine content is openly disclosed and that the drink is also labeled with a warning for buyers. \u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cOur products comply with applicable federal labeling requirements, and our policy is not to market or sample to anyone under 18, consistent with those label warnings,\u201d the statement continued. \u200b<\/p>\n

The Independent has contacted Celsius Holdings Inc. and Glazer\u2019s Beer and Beverage for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Texas family is suing the distributor of a popular energy drink, claiming that the beverage was linked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[76815,77035,77038,77037,76810,49051,9,24,63,122,124,123,77036,77039],"class_list":{"0":"post-192515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-alani-nu","9":"tag-energy-drink","10":"tag-hidalgo-county","11":"tag-katy-hearn","12":"tag-larissa-rodriguez","13":"tag-lawsuit-filed","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-queens","18":"tag-queens-headlines","19":"tag-queens-news","20":"tag-rodriguez-family","21":"tag-wrongful-death"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}