Police said court documents released Monday describe the death of a Northern Arizona University student after an initiation event at a Delta Tau Delta fraternity house, and outline the steps that led law enforcement to arrest three fraternity leaders on criminal hazing charges.
Investigators said people at the house found the student not breathing when officers arrived, and Delta Tau Delta members performed CPR before paramedics took over, according to police accounts contained in the court documents. Officers said they continued life-saving measures until paramedics arrived, but the student died at the scene. The documents did not release the student’s name.
The documents also described what police said happened before the student was found unresponsive. Court documents said the student drank a large amount of vodka during the fraternity’s initiation event, and witnesses told police that some people searched online for symptoms of alcohol poisoning after hearing the 18-year-old snoring loudly around 3 a.m. Saturday.
According to the documents, the student was last heard speaking late Friday, and people later discovered him unresponsive at 8:44 a.m. Saturday, about six hours after the snoring incident. Police said that around 3 a.m., after noticing symptoms they associated with alcohol poisoning, witnesses adjusted the student’s sleeping position and checked his pulse and breathing.
Citing the same documents, police said the university and fraternity members’ conduct included alcohol-sharing among the victim and three other people identified as candidates to join the fraternity. The court documents said the group passed around and shared two large bottles of vodka to ensure they vomited, though witnesses told investigators they believed the vodka had been diluted with water.
Police arrested three 20-year-old fraternity leaders: new member educator Carter Eslick, vice president Ryan Creech and treasurer Riley Cass. Court documents said each was arrested on criminal hazing charges. Lawyers representing the three did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment, and home telephone numbers for the three could not be immediately found, according to the report.
A spokesperson for the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office, Trish Lees, said the cause of death is under investigation. The medical examiner’s office is therefore still determining how the death occurred even as criminal cases proceed against the fraternity leaders, police said.
Delta Tau Delta’s international leadership said the group is encouraging its members to participate in the investigation and is committed to understanding what led to the student’s death. In a statement, fraternity CEO Jack Kreman said, “Our position on hazing is clear: it is the antithesis of brotherhood and a violation of the values of Delta Tau Delta.”
Northern Arizona University said it temporarily suspended the Northern Arizona chapter of the fraternity while the school conducts its own investigation focused on its policies. In its statement, the university said it had robust hazing prevention training and requirements and reiterated that student safety and well-being remain its highest priorities, adding that violence, hazing or any other behavior that endangers others has no place at NAU.