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Fraternity member arrested after alleged hazing incident that put LSU student on life support

3 years 4 months 3 weeks ago Monday, November 02 2020 Nov 2, 2020 November 02, 2020 12:16 PM November 02, 2020 in Crime
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - An LSU fraternity member was arrested Monday morning amid an investigation into a night of drinking that sent another student to the hospital.

Phi Kappa Psi member Terry Pat Reynolds II, 21, was booked for criminal hazing and failure to seek assistance, an LSU spokesperson confirmed.

According to arrest documents obtained Monday, the investigation began after fraternity members dropped off a student at a hospital in serious condition Oct. 19. Hospital staff told investigators the victim was unresponsive, foaming at the mouth and had to be placed on life support. It was later determined the victim's blood-alcohol level was .451, nearly six times the legal driving limit.

Police collected cell phones from some of those involved in the incident and discovered that Reynolds hosted the event at his off-campus home and messaged a GroupMe composed of mostly new members about it just hours earlier on Oct. 18. 

"If you're not doing s*** get over to my place, need a few" the messages read in part. "Hope you're ready to get hammered if you pull up."

Records say those who showed up were made to finish a large amount of alcohol as a group and were not allowed to leave if they didn't finish entire bottles of alcohol. Witnesses said Reynolds retrieved more bottles for pledges to drink if they didn't finish fast enough. 

Reynolds later sent another message to the group chat saying they "need 3 more" and "better get over here before people get too blackout." He sent even more messages throughout the night that suggested the new members were being pushed too far.

"The N***as that are at my house will need rides y'all better figure it out"

"There's at least 10 of them blackout they need rides"

Despite those messages, police say Reynolds never called for help. According to the affidavit, no one sought help for anyone until someone outside the event saw the victim later that night.

As the night went on, Reynolds allegedly sent even more messages threatening retribution for anyone who didn't show up. 

"The beauty of the situation is that you n***as have 4 weeks of pledgeship left"

"You boys f*** me, we will F*** YOU"

"It's open season starting tomorrow"

Reynolds later told the group he would need 10 more people to show up later that weekend for what he called "finish-it Sundays."

Though only one person ended up in the hospital, it was determined there were as many as 13 victims who were forced to drink in excess that night. Police went to investigate the address the next day and found trash cans loaded with empty alcohol containers across the property.

Reynolds' arrest comes more than a week after the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity was suspended over the incident. 

Read the full statement from LSU below. 

“LSU Police have conducted a thorough investigation into the activities of Phi Kappa Psi, and today a member of the fraternity, Terry Pat Reynolds II, was arrested and booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for Criminal Hazing (Felony and Misdemeanor) and Failure to Seek Assistance. The university has stated on multiple occasions that hazing will not be tolerated and the university acts swiftly when any hazing allegations are brought forth. Now that the LSU Police investigation has led to an arrest, the university’s office of Student Advocacy & Accountability will also conduct an investigation regarding any possible Code of Student Conduct violations.”

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