MESA -- A Chandler high school student and football player whose father found him unconscious in his bed died from a heroin overdose.

That's according to an autopsy by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office.

Danny Pasanella's death on Sept.21, marked the end of a long fight against drug addiction that started with Oxycontin and escalated to heroin.

Family and friends say Pasanella had overdosed at least once but that things looked brighter after he left a Utah drug treatment program last year.

Pasanella earned good grades, had a nice girlfriend and excelled on the football field. But he somehow got back into drug culture.

Information from: East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune

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