[chris]

Ann Marie Hefferin, an 18-year-old University of Central Florida freshman from Maitland, died Aug. 25, 2011, after a rapidly progressing bacterial sepsis infection, not alcohol, the medical examiner's office later said.

Hefferin had spent a little more than an hour that evening at the Sigma Chi fraternity house on the Orlando campus, UCF said. She had recently pledged the Delta Delta Delta sorority. Around 4 a.m., roommates found her unresponsive in their dorm room in the Lake Claire residence hall and called 911. A dispatcher talked them through CPR while paramedics were on the way.

She was taken to Florida Hospital East, where she was pronounced dead about a half hour later, according to university statements and news accounts.

UCF confirmed there was evidence alcohol had been consumed at the fraternity gathering, which had not been approved by the university or by Sigma Chi's national office. Campus officials ordered both Sigma Chi and Delta Delta Delta to suspend all social activities while police investigated, and Hefferin's attendance at the party drew scrutiny in local news coverage.

More than a month later, toxicology tests found only trace amounts of alcohol in Hefferin's system, according to Dr. Jan Garavaglia. She said Hefferin died of a rapidly progressing sepsis syndrome brought on by Streptococcus agalactiae bacteria found in her blood and at the base of her brain, a virulent but non-contagious infection. Garavaglia said it remained unclear how or why Hefferin contracted it.

A UCF spokesman said the ruling did not change the fact that a student had died. Hundreds of students had already gathered for a candlelight vigil at the campus Reflecting Pond a few days after her death. Sigma Chi and Delta Delta Delta stayed under alcohol restrictions for a period afterward as the university's review continued. Hefferin's family asked that donations be made to a scholarship fund set up in her name at her Orlando-area high school in lieu of flowers.