The Andrew Coffey Florida State University alleged hazing death has resulted in charges against nine people, the Tallahassee Democrat reported Wednesday.
Coffey, 20, died in early November at a crowded party with members of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity after reportedly drinking an entire bottle of Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, the newspaper said.
Court documents state that Coffey, a fraternity pledge, and other pledges were coerced into drinking to excess without any effort to stop them or to monitor how much alcohol they were consuming, the Democrat reported.
According to the newspaper, Luke E. Kluttz, 22; Clayton M. Muehlstein, 22; Brett A. Birmingham, 20; Conner R. Ravelo, 21; Christopher M. Hamlin, 21; Anthony Petagine, 20; Anthony Oppenheimer, 21; John B. Ray, 21; and Kyle J. Bauer, 21 all face charges of hazing causing injury or death.
Authorities told the Democrat Wednesday that three of the suspects have turned themselves in in Leon County and six in Wakulla County.
"This collaborative investigation was critical to finding answers for Andrew Coffey's family and our community," Tallahassee Police Chief Michael J. DeLeo said in a statement Tuesday. "Hopefully, this investigation and its outcome will prevent another tragedy from occurring."
Time magazine reported that in an attachment to December's Leon County grand jury report, Coffey's parents demanded that the fraternity members be held accountable for their son's death.
"Even as we are heartbroken, we are also troubled," the family wrote in the grand jury statement, per Time. "Troubled that our son died alone in a room full of people. Troubled that no one stood up and said 'stop,' 'no,' 'enough.' Troubled that a group of young people saw someone in crisis and didn't act. And troubled that this continues to happen, again and again."
Florida State, along with Texas State University in San Marcos, both suspended all fraternities and sororities on campus in the light of hazing incidents, Time noted.
In November, Matthew Ellis, a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity pledge at TSU, died after traveling to an off-campus apartment for an event hosted by members of the fraternity, Time reported. San Marcos Police Cmdr. Kelly Bomersbach said alcohol may have been a factor in Ellis' death.
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