Baton Rouge Police on Monday arrested a second suspect in connection with the death of Southern University student Caleb Wilson during a fraternity hazing ritual on Feb. 27.Â
Kyle Thurman, 25, was booked into the West Baton Rouge Detention Center Monday, after he was arrested in Port Allen by West Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputies and the U.S. Marshals Service, a West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office spokesman said.
Thurman is expected to be transferred to East Baton Rouge Parish Prison and charged with felony hazing, according to a Baton Rouge police spokesman.Â
Baton Rouge Police Chief Thomas Morse Jr. said Friday Wilson's death was the "direct result" of being punched "while pledging" to join Omega Psi Phi. Morse also said then police were preparing warrants to arrest two additional suspects.
Late Thursday, former Southern University student Caleb McCray, 23, surrendered to Baton Rouge police, marking the first arrest following the death of the 20-year-old junior engineering student and Kenner native.
McCray was booked into East Baton Rouge prison on one count each of manslaughter and hazing. McCray made his initial court appearance Friday afternoon, where his bond was set at $100,000, his attorney Phillip Robinson said, noting his client is innocent.
Wilson, a former trumpet player for Southern University's famed Human Jukebox marching band, died after he was punched in the chest while pledging for the Omega Psi fraternity inside a warehouse at 3412 Woodcrest Drive, Morse said.
During the ritual, pledges were brought to the building and forced to change into gray sweatsuits. With Wilson and eight other hopefuls lined up according to height, McCray and two others took turns punching them in the chest using a pair of black boxing gloves, according to McCray's arrest warrant affidavit.
All the pledges absorbed four punches from fraternity members imposing the rite of passage, authorities said. Each punch represented one of the fraternity's "ples:" manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift.
Investigators were told neither Omega Psi members nor pledges were allowed to bring cellphones inside the warehouse during the pledging ritual, a source close to the investigation said.
According to his arrest affidavit, McCray delivered the final blow before Wilson collapsed to the floor and began having a seizure. Fraternity members did not call 911 after Wilson experienced the medical episode, and waited to bring him to a hospital, sources said. An autopsy report mentioned in the arrest affidavit revealed a small bruise to the right side of Wilson’s chest.
Wilson’s full autopsy report is not yet complete, Baton Rouge Coroner's Office chief of investigations Shane Tindall said Friday. The cause and manner of his death remain undetermined pending additional tests which likely will take several months, Tindall said.
Morse said Wilson was taken to Baton Rouge General-Bluebonnet hospital. Police were called there at about 2:40 a.m. on Feb. 27, the police chief said. Before leaving the hospital, the males who dropped Wilson off said they had been playing basketball with him at a Baton Rouge park, Morse said.
In Louisiana, hazing can be a felony under the Max Gruver Act, passed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2018 and named after the LSU Phi Delta Theta fraternity pledge who died in a . Louisiana's anti-hazing law prohibits hazing regardless of whether the targeted person voluntarily allowed it. Violators face a $1,000 fine and six months behind bars.
If the person being hazed dies or is seriously injured, penalties increase to a $10,000 fine and five years in prison. The increased penalties also apply if hazing involves coerced alcohol consumption that leaves the victim's blood alcohol concentration at or above 0.30%.
Morse told reporters Friday the case remains an "active, ongoing" investigation involving his department, the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's Office with cooperation from Southern University.
Dennis Shields, president of Southern University, said Friday Omega Psi Phi was ordered to "cease all activities" at the university. Additionally, the university suspended all campus club and Greek life recruiting through the academic year, Shields said.
University officials are conducting an internal investigation of Wilson's death, and Shields said student groups face the "prospect of discipline," and it's possible some students could be expelled.Â
Southern University Board of Supervisors Chairman Tony Clayton, who is the 18th Judicial District Attorney in West Baton Rouge, said in an interview he is pushing for the Omega fraternity to be removed from the university.
In 2005, Omega Psi Phi was kicked off Southern University's Baton Rouge campus, archives from The Advocate | The Times-Picayune show. The university ordered a three-year expulsion, after university officials found "overwhelming evidence" a fraternity pledge was severely beaten, with injuries that led to internal bleeding.
Meanwhile, Wilson's family shortly after his Feb. 27 death thanked the community for its "unwavering" support.
Wilson's father, Corey Wilson, has worked as a deputy with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office for 35 years. The elder Wilson also worked security details for New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans owner Gayle Benson. Caleb Wilson's mother is a student at Southern University's New Orleans campus.
In the family's recent statement released by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, Wilson's family said, "We are committed to seeking the truth about the circumstances surrounding Caleb's passing and ensuring that no other family has to endure such a tragedy."
