The self-described junkie who was present the night a Mandan girl took a lethal cocktail of drugs could have his fate decided today.

Closing arguments in the manslaughter case against Mark Streeper ended Wednesday, but the Burleigh County jury was unable to deliver a verdict by 6 p.m. South Central District Judge Bruce Haskell asked the jurors to stop deliberating at that time and resume today.

Streeper, 27, was charged with manslaughter in the Nov. 29, 2004, death of 16-year-old Ashley Berge. Berge died of a lethal dose of prescription medications - methadone, alprazolam and oxycodone - that she allegedly consumed during a gathering at Streeper's residence. Streeper had prescriptions for those drugs, and admitted to abusing them.

Streeper's attorney, Kent Morrow, argued Wednesday that Berge could have obtained the drugs from someone else, possibly a friend who made a brief stop at Streeper's residence the night Berge overdosed. Streeper testified that he "shot up" that night, but did not give drugs to Berge. Morrow said Streeper was a drug addict to the degree that he would not give drugs to anyone else, but keep them for himself.

Prosecutor Cynthia Feland said no one but Streeper had prescriptions for the drugs that killed Berge, including the female friend Morrow said could have delivered them. Two friends of Berge's testified that they saw Streeper inject the drugs into Berge's arm while all of them were in his bedroom. Streeper said he saw Berge inject herself.

Berge and Streeper knew each other because they both worked at the same pizza restaurant. On Nov. 28, 2004, Streeper picked up Berge, a Mandan High School junior, and a friend of hers. After a stop for beer and cigarettes, the three of them went to the Bismarck house Streeper shares with his parents.

At some point, Streeper excused himself to the bathroom, where his drugs were stashed in an exhaust fan. He said Wednesday that Berge's friend saw him getting the drugs, used the bathroom and left. He said he then injected himself with the drugs and went back to his bedroom, where the others were gathered.

That is when Berge took the drugs that would kill her, either letting Streeper inject her or injecting herself.

A friend of Streeper's came over to the house, and they drove Berge and her friend back to Mandan. Berge stayed in the car, though, and returned to Streeper's house. His friend left, and Streeper said he and Berge began watching "Seinfeld" DVDs in his room. She removed her clothing from the waist up, he said, and fell asleep on his bed.

Streeper said he woke Berge up at about 12:30 a.m., and testified that she told him she was too tired to go home and asked to stay there. He said that was the last time he saw her alive. He said he played on his computer for about four hours and went to sleep in his chair.

Photographs of Berge were found on his digital camera, however, which were taken at about 4:20 a.m. He admitted to taking them, but said he didn't realize Berge had died.

Morrow said an expert testified earlier in the case that it would likely not be possible for a lay person to tell at that point that Berge had overdosed, based on the photos.

A phone call awoke Streeper at about noon Nov. 29, and he called 911 at 12:13 p.m.

Feland said Streeper, who had seen a person overdose before, should have known what was going on and should have contacted authorities much earlier.

"Mark had the drugs, Mark decided the amount, Mark injected her and then Mark did nothing," Feland said.

Morrow said Streeper didn't know that Berge had overdosed.

"What happened to Ashley Berge on Nov. 29 was a tragedy," Morrow said. "Everyone agrees to that. Mark agrees to that. Medically speaking, Ashley Berge died because of an accident."

Streeper is charged with one count of manslaughter and two counts of delivering alcohol to minors.

The jury could announce its verdict today at the Burleigh County Courthouse.