2016 HS graduate dies at Free Press Summer Festival

THE WOODLANDS, TX (KTRK) -- An 18-year-old girl from The Woodlands died shortly after attending the Free Press Summer Festival in Houston Sunday.

According to the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, Megan Tilton was transported from 9201 Main Street Sunday and later died.

Megan's mother, Julie Tilton, said she got a call from Memorial Hermann Hospital Sunday night. She rushed to the hospital and asked to see her daughter. She spoke with a doctor instead.

"He said that at the festival, Megan was given a form of tainted ecstasy, and it stopped her heart," Tilton said, "They were unable to revive her. They worked on her for a very long period of time but they weren't able to save her."

Tilton said she had just talked with her daughter about the dangers of drugs about two months ago.

"We talked about this. She said, 'Mom I know all about this, I would never take anything like this,'" Tilton said. "She was a very aware individual. She knew where she was going. She was smart, she was headstrong and she had a plan. She was supposed to start college, she was doing summer classes the next day and this was kind of the last thing before things got crazy."

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Tilton's family. It reads:

"The Woodlands Highsteppers have lost one of their beloved 2016 graduates this weekend. Megan Tilton, 18, was looking forward to attending college in Austin this fall. Her family has struggled with hardships over the past two years after her father suffered a stroke."

Tilton wants other parents to honor Megan by talking to their children one more time about drugs.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's office has not yet released the official cause of death.

The organizers of Free Press Summer Fest issued a statement that reads in part:

"It has come to light that over the past weekend an 18-year-old girl, Megan Tilton from The Woodlands High School, passed away after she left FPSF by medical transport. We don't speak for the festival, only for Free Press Houston, although it's easy to recognize that this is an utter tragedy, one which causes us profound sadness. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends, first and foremost. We have always seen our young attendees as the core of why we got into live events, publishing, and more, so to see the loss of a precious life makes us take pause and remind ourselves that our obligation to our community is paramount. We encourage everyone to join us in contributing to the GoFundMe for Megan Tilton to help her family with the funeral and aftercare."