LSU Fraternity Pledge Death: 10 Arrested On Hazing Charges

BATON ROUGE, LA — Ten people were arrested Wednesday on hazing charges stemming from the Sept. 14 death of Louisiana State University fraternity pledge Maxwell Gruver, university officials said. The 18-year-old freshman was "highly intoxicated" when fraternity members laid him on a couch and left the house. He died a day later at a hospital.

Matthew Alexander Naquin, 19, of Boerne, Texas, also faces a negligent homicide charge in Gruver's death, LSU said in a statement. An autopsy showed Gruver's blood-alcohol content when he died was 0.495 — more than six times the legal limit for driving, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Beau Clark said Wednesday.

Eight suspects are LSU students and were active members of the fraternity, according to university spokesman Ernie Ballard. All 10 turned themselves in to LSU police on Wednesday, he said. The hazing charges against all 10 suspects, whose ages range from 18 to 21, are misdemeanors. (For more information on Gruver's death and other Baton Rouge stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The arrests "underscore that the ramifications of hazing can be devastating," LSU President F. King Alexander said in a statement

"Maxwell Gruver's family will mourn his loss for the rest of their lives, and several other students are now facing serious consequences - all due to a series of poor decisions," Alexander added.

Gruver died at a Baton Rouge hospital after Phi Delta Theta members found him lying on a couch at the fraternity house and couldn't tell if he was breathing, police said.

Clark, the coroner, concluded Gruver died of acute alcohol intoxication with aspiration. An autopsy revealed Gruver inhaled vomit and other fluid into his lungs, said Clark. He ruled the death an accident.

Witnesses told police that the fraternity's pledges were forced to drink to excess on the night before Gruver's death, during a game or initiation ritual called "Bible Study" that required pledges to drink if they incorrectly answered questions about the fraternity.

A witness told police that Gruver was "highly intoxicated" when fraternity members laid him on a couch and left the house sometime early on Sept. 14. Around 11 a.m., members found Gruver still on the couch with a weak pulse, police said. Two people drove him to a hospital, where he died later that day.

The fraternity's national office said it closed the chapter after Gruver's death.

The nine suspects facing only hazing charges are Zachary Castillo, of Gretna; Sean Paul Gott, of Lafayette; Sean Pennison, Mandeville; Hudson Kirkpatrick, Baton Rouge; Elliott Eaton, of New Orleans; Patrick Forde, of Westwood, Massachusetts; Nicholas Tavlli, of Cypress, Texas; Zachary Hall, of Charlotte, North Carolina; and Ryan Isto, who is from Canada. Gott and Forde aren't enrolled at LSU, according to Ballard.

Hall's attorney, David Bourland, said his 21-year-old client didn't participate in hazing activities or provide anyone with alcohol on the night before Gruver died. Hall, a junior who lived at the fraternity house, is in a "deep depression" over his friend's death, his attorney said.

"But my client did not violate any law or code of conduct at LSU," Bourland added. "He did not do anything that could have contributed to this unfortunate, tragic accident."

East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore said his office will present evidence to a grand jury and could seek additional charges against some of the 10 suspects. Other individuals also could face charges in the case, Moore added.

Several pledges told police they received a group text message stating there would be 'Bible Study' at the house" at 10 p.m. on Sept. 13. Investigators seized a cellphone belonging to the fraternity member who sent the group text message about the "Bible Study" session.

Police executed search warrants at the fraternity house and at Gruver's dorm room. Among the items seized from the fraternity house were a duffel bag filled with beer cans, bottles of liquor, a glass smoking pipe, a "pledge test," cleaning supplies and two strands of white knotted rope, according to a search warrant return.

Police also found devices that may have captured video footage inside the fraternity house "during the times of the events," a police affidavit says.

"Investigators also learned that there were several text messages sent about (Gruver's) condition," the affidavit said.

Police also obtained a warrant to examine Gruver's phone so they could see who he called or texted before his death.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards asked leaders of the state's higher-education system to review their campus policies on hazing, alcohol and drugs following Gruver's death.

"One loss of life to hazing or drug and alcohol abuse is too many, and I know that you share my very serious concerns," Edwards wrote in a letter dated Sept. 21, asking them to report their findings and recommendations to his office by Oct. 29.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press

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