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Louisiana man arrested in hazing death of 20-year-old Southern University student Louisiana man arrested in hazing death of Southern University student
(32 minutes later)
At least two more apprehensions expected in Caleb Wilson’s death after Omega Psi Phi fraternity ritual, authorities sayAt least two more apprehensions expected in Caleb Wilson’s death after Omega Psi Phi fraternity ritual, authorities say
One arrest has been made and at least two more are expected in connection with the death of a 20-year-old Southern University student after an off-campus fraternity hazing ritual, Baton Rouge authorities announced Friday. Multiple people are facing criminal charges in the recent death of a 20-year-old student at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that evidently occurred amid a fraternity hazing, authorities have said.
“Caleb Wilson died as a direct result of a hazing incident where he was punched in the chest multiple times while pledging to Omega Psi Phi fraternity,” Baton Rouge police department chief Thomas Morse Jr told reporters. Caleb McCray, 23, surrendered to police in Louisiana’s capital city on Thursday on counts of manslaughter as well as criminal hazing in the 27 February death of 20-year-old Caleb Wilson, a mechanical engineering student at Southern as well as a member of its famed Human Jukebox marching band.
Caleb McCray was arrested on Thursday evening and faces charges of manslaughter and criminal hazing in the death of Wilson, a mechanical engineering junior at the school who died in late February. McCray’s attorney, Phillip Robinson, said his client deserved due process. At a news conference on Friday, the Baton Rouge police chief, TJ Morse, said investigators had obtained warrants to arrest two more suspects in Wilson’s killing and were making arrangements with their attorneys for them to turn themselves over for booking. Morse did not immediately identify that pair.
“I maintain my client’s innocence and urge the public to withhold rushing to judgment until all the evidence is heard,” Robinson said in an emailed statement. McCray and his family declined to comment, Robinson added. Morse explained that investigators were treating Wilson’s death as a manslaughter rather than a murder because it was unintentional yet resulted from criminal behavior – specifically, hazing. Morse said his agency has determined Wilson died after repeatedly being punched in the chest while undergoing the pledging process to join Southern’s Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
Wilson was initially brought to a hospital by a group of men who falsely said that he had “collapsed while playing basketball at a park” but in fact had suffered injuries at a warehouse, Morse said. The group left before police arrived at the hospital and no one contacted 911 at any point, he added. Louisiana’s legislature criminalized hazing after the 2017 death of Max Gruver, who had been forced to ingest a fatal level of alcohol while pledging to join the Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Louisiana State University, also in Baton Rouge.
In Louisiana, hazing can be a felony under the Max Gruver Act, which passed in 2018 and was named after a Louisiana State University student who died of alcohol poisoning after hazing at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house. Omega Psi Phi at Southern has been “ordered to cease all activities”, according to the president of the historically Black school, Dennis Shields. The fraternity could face civil penalties under Louisiana’s anti-hazing laws, the Baton Rouge district attorney, Hillar Moore said.
Under the act, if a person being hazed dies or is seriously injured, violators face up to a $10,000 fine and five years in prison. Organizations, representatives and officers of an organization, and educational institutions can also face penalties. Shields said the school was subjecting an unspecified number of students to disciplinary proceedings, too.
Omega Psi Phi could face civil penalties under the act, East Baton Rouge district attorney Hillar Moore said. “We got to do better, Baton Rouge,” the city’s mayor, Sid Edwards, said at Friday’s news conference. Referring to Wilson, he added, “It’s … sad … to lose such a promising young life. And I encourage all the young people out there to make better decisions.”
The fraternity’s campus chapter has been ordered to “cease all activities” and students involved in Wilson’s death could face expulsion, Southern University president Dennis Shields told reporters. According to Morse, Baton Rouge police learned of Wilson’s death from medical staff at a local hospital where a group of young men had dropped him off. The group claimed Wilson had collapsed while playing basketball at a public park and then left before police arrived to investigate.
All campus Greek life organizations are barred from taking on any additional members through the remainder of the academic year, he added. Omega Psi Phi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officers nonetheless subsequently determined that Wilson – in his junior year at Southern – was mortally injured during a hazing ritual at a warehouse more than three miles away from the park, Morse said.
Hundreds of Southern University students, alumni, staff and state leaders gathered for a vigil on Wednesday evening in honor of Wilson. Morse said McCray, described by Baton Rouge television station WBRZ as a Southern graduate and Omega Phi Psi member, turned himself over to authorities as police investigating Wilson’s death had interviewed more than a dozen people as well as executed multiple search warrants.
Friends and family took turns telling stories about Wilson, who by a number of accounts was joyous, bright, talented and driven. An attorney for McCray, Phillip Robinson, issued a statement to WBRZ arguing that police had not presented him with evidence that he believed was strong enough to support the allegations of criminal hazing and manslaughter against his client.
“He walked this campus with a purpose,” Chaselynn Grant, a longtime friend of Wilson’s, told the Advocate. “I know he is smiling down.” “We are committed to ensuring that all facts are properly examined and that due process is followed,” Robinson’s statement also said.
Wilson played trumpet for the university’s famous marching band, known as the Human Jukebox, which recently performed at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. Manslaughter, under Louisiana law, can carry up to 40 years in prison. Criminal hazing can carry a maximum of five years’ imprisonment.
Before attending Southern, Wilson graduated from Warren Easton high school in New Orleans and played trumpet for its marching band.
The Human Jukebox recently performed at the NFL Super Bowl played on 9 February in New Orleans.
Among those to mourn Wilson’s death was the owner of New Orleans’s two professional sports teams, Gayle Benson, for whom Wilson’s father, Corey, worked security details as part of his job as a deputy with the sheriff’s office of Jefferson parish, Louisiana.
“We mourn with [Wilson’s father] … on this senseless passing,” Benson said in a statement reported on by multiple media outlets.
Wilson was honored on Thursday at a second line – traditionally, a musical and dancing celebration trailing closely behind a parade – held in his memory in New Orleans’s Treme neighborhood. A friend of Wilson who attended the second line told the Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana that Wilson “had a good spirit”.
“He was gifted, gifted with the trumpet,” said the friend, Brandon Mitchell. “And he had a good heart.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting