BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Latest on hazing charges against 10 people in the death of a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge (all times local): 2:45 p.m. Witnesses told police that a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge died last
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Latest on hazing charges against 10 people in the death of a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge (all times local):
2:45 p.m.
Witnesses told police that a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge died last month after a member singled him out during a hazing ritual and forced him to drink more than other pledges.
A police report released Wednesday says witnesses said 19-year-old Matthew Alexander Naquin “targeted” Maxwell Gruver because the 18-year-old pledge was frequently late for events.
Ten young men were arrested Wednesday on hazing charges. Only Naquin faces an additional felony charge of negligent homicide in Gruver’s death.
Another Phi Delta Theta pledge also told police that Naquin “forced” Gruver drink because he was having trouble reciting the Greek alphabet during “Bible Study,” a drinking game or ritual that tested pledges’ knowledge of the fraternity.
Gruver died at a Baton Rouge hospital on Sept. 14, a day after the late-night drinking. A coroner said Gruver’s blood-alcohol content level was more than six times the legal limit for driving at the time of his death.
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Noon
An attorney for one of 10 people facing hazing charges in the death of a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge says his client didn’t participate in hazing or provide anyone with alcohol on the night before the 18-year-old died.
David Bourland says his client, Zachary Hall, of Charlotte, North Carolina, didn’t break any laws or LSU codes of conduct. He adds that Hall is in “deep depression” over the Sept. 14 death of Maxwell Gruver.
Hazing is a misdemeanor charge. Only one of the 10 suspects, 19-year-old Matthew Alexander Naquin, 19, faces an additional felony charge of negligent homicide.
Gruver died at a hospital after Phi Delta Theta members found him lying on a couch at the fraternity house and couldn’t tell if he was breathing. An autopsy found his blood-alcohol content level was more than six times the legal limit for driving at the time of his death.
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11:15 a.m.
A coroner says a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge’s blood-alcohol content level was more than six times the legal limit for driving at the time of his death last month.
East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Beau Clark said Wednesday that 18-year-old freshman Maxwell Gruver died of acute alcohol intoxication with aspiration. Clark says an autopsy found Gruver inhaled vomit and other fluid into his lungs.
Clark ruled Gruver’s death was an accident, but police secured warrants to arrest 10 people on hazing charges after investigating. One of the suspects also faces a negligent homicide charge.
LSU police said Gruver, a freshman from Roswell, Georgia, died at a Baton Rouge hospital on Sept. 14 after a night of drinking at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house.
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9:27 a.m.
Ten people are facing hazing charges in the death of a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge after a night of drinking last month.
A LSU statement on Wednesday says one of the 10 suspects also faces a negligent homicide charge in the death of 18-year-old Maxwell Gruver, a freshman from Roswell, Georgia.
LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard says eight of the suspects are LSU students.
Gruver died at a hospital on Sept. 14 after Phi Delta Theta members found him lying on a couch at the fraternity house and couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
A coroner said hospital tests found a “highly elevated” blood-alcohol level in Gruver’s body.
Witnesses told police that the fraternity’s pledges were forced to drink to excess the night before Gruver’s death.
