Oneida County District Attorney Scott D. McNamara said in a statement that Stephanie Bongiovi could not be charged because New York law prohibits the prosecution of people who had overdosed and were in possession of small amounts of drugs.

Bongiovi, 19, was found unresponsive in a dormitory room at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, early on Wednesday and was later booked on misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance (heroin), marijuana possession and criminal use of drug paraphernalia, which were found in the room.

A message left with the singer's representative was not immediately returned.

Heroin and marijuana charges against fellow student Ian S. Grant, 21, in connection with Bongiovi's case were also dropped as a witness or victim to a drug or alcohol overdose cannot be prosecuted in New York.

Bongiovi is the oldest of four children of Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea Hurley.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Andre Grenon)

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