{"id":243074,"date":"2026-04-10T04:16:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T04:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243074\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T04:16:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T04:16:21","slug":"south-texas-teens-death-tied-to-energy-drinks-lawsuit-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243074\/","title":{"rendered":"South Texas teen’s death tied to energy drinks, lawsuit says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A South Texas<\/a> family says an energy drink that\u2019s popular among social media influencers and young women caused their teen daughter\u2019s death from a heart attack last fall. Now, the family is suing one of the beverage brand\u2019s distributors, alleging they failed to warn consumers of an unsafe product.<\/p>\n

In a news conference held on the steps of the Hidalgo County Courthouse on Wednesday, attorneys for the family explained how Larissa Rodriguez routinely consumed the festively packaged\u00a0Alani Nu Energy Drinks<\/a>, including in the days leading up to her death. Each drink contains 200 milligrams of caffeine \u2014 more than twice the amount found in an average cup of coffee \u2014 along with several other ingredients that allegedly \u201camplify\u201d the effects of caffeine. For an adolescent, such effects can be deadly, the family\u2019s lawyers argue. Read on below for a full breakdown of the lawsuit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Larissa Rodriguez<\/a> was a 17-year-old cheerleader, beauty pageant contestant, tennis player and star student at Weslaco High School, located in the Mid-Valley. She had been accepted to 20 colleges, including the University of Texas at Austin. She was the only daughter of Jennifer A. Rodriguez and Roberto Rodriguez Jr.<\/p>\n

According to the findings of a local coroner,\u00a0Larissa\u2019s heart was severely damaged by her caffeine consumption, causing her to suffer \u201ca fatal cardiac event\u201d shortly after homecoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hidalgo County<\/a> Medical Examiner determined that\u00a0Larissa Rodriguez\u2019s cause of death was cardiomyopathy caused by excessive caffeine consumption,\u201d the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n

The coroner found no other trace of harmful substances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no alcohol, there\u2019s no drugs, there\u2019s no\u00a0fentanyl. There\u2019s no synthetic drugs,\u201d Benny Agosto Jr., one of the attorneys representing the family, said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The family is suing Glazer\u2019s Beer and Beverage\u00a0LLC, a company that in 2024 opened a massive new distribution center in Weslaco. Larissa, who was then serving with the \u201cMiss Texas Onion Fest,\u201d participated in the company\u2019s ribbon-cutting event on behalf of the Weslaco Chamber of Commerce. Glazer\u2019s distributes Alani to local stores, including H-E-B, where Larissa and her family purchased the energy drinks. The lawsuit does not, however, name Alani Nu Energy Drinks as a defendant.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit claims\u00a0Alani knowingly targets young women through a network of influencers who promote the drinks as a “‘better-for-you’ wellness and lifestyle beverage” without adequate warnings about the dangers of high caffeine doses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only cautionary language on the can \u2014\u2019Not recommended for children under 18, those sensitive to caffeine, pregnant or nursing women\u2019 \u2014 is printed in small, inconspicuous text that is\u2026 wholly inadequate to warn consumers of the serious risks of cardiac injury and death,\u201d the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n

As the drink\u2019s distributor, Glazer\u2019s was liable for the \u201cforeseeable risk\u201d of injury \u2014 especially to children \u2014 that\u00a0Alani posed, the lawsuit further claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A South Texas family says an energy drink that\u2019s popular among social media influencers and young women caused…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2320,820,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-243074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-mysasotx","9":"tag-mysastaff","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-texas-headlines","12":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}