Southern student died after being punched in the chest during fraternity hazing, sources say

Caleb Wilson, a 20-year-old Southern University student, died last week after being punched in the chest during a fraternity hazing ritual in which about 10 fraternity members hit pledges with their fists and objects, sources close to the criminal investigation into Wilson's death said Wednesday.

The Feb. 27 hazing incident took place at a warehouse off Greenwell Springs Road, according to multiple sources — not at a local park, as police said some of the fraternity members told them.

One source said Wilson, a Kenner native and former junior engineering student, was not singled out, but he apparently “experienced a medical episode as a result of being pledged.” The source said 911 was never called and there was a lapse in time between Wilson's medical episode and fraternity members bringing him to the hospital.

Louisiana Secretary of State records show the warehouse is leased by Todd Smith, owner of California Hardwood Floors, and East Baton Rouge Metro Councilman Cleve Dunn Jr., owner of Runner's Courier Service LLC.

Smith is a member of Lambda Alpha Ques, according to the group's website, which is a graduate chapter of Omega Psi Phi — the fraternity under criminal investigation by police and an administrative probe by Southern University. He told local TV station WAFB that his son is a member of Omega Psi Phi.

On Feb. 27, Baton Rouge authorities said Wilson was brought to the hospital "unconscious" by people who found him that way at the North Sherwood Forest Park. Then Baton Rouge Police officers were called to the hospital where Wilson was pronounced dead, authorities said that day hours after the student died.

The source said Wednesday the fraternity members were never at the park where they initially claimed the fraternity event happened.

“It’s an ugly situation,” the source said, adding that other pledges at the event “were devastated by what happened to their brother.”

The source said the hazing ritual involved physical violence, not alcohol or drugs. The Baton Rouge Police Department has interviewed pledges who were there that night.

“I expect charges to come,” the source said. “The question is just who is going to be arrested and what the charges are going to be.”

Southern 'cooperating fully' with criminal investigation

Wilson's death is being investigated by the Baton Rouge Police and East Baton Rouge District Attorney's Office as a possible act of fraternity hazing.

He was pledging the Beta Sigma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. at Southern.

On Tuesday, Southern announced its own probe into the alleged hazing incident, and said all campus groups are required to undergo rigorous anti-hazing training.

"As the Southern University and A&M College community grieves the loss of student Caleb Wilson, Southern officials continue the internal investigation that was launched immediately after reports of unsanctioned off-campus activities," university officials said in a statement. "The University has begun the student judiciary process as prescribed by the University’s student code of conduct and aligned with Louisiana law."

Groups who breach anti-hazing policies will be held to "disciplinary sanctions," according to the Tuesday statement.

"Southern University is actively and fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities in their criminal investigation," according to the statement.

The school's Student Government Association held a vigil for Wilson on Wednesday evening at the Smith-Brown Student Union courtyard, drawing a crowd that included hundreds of students, including his bandmates with the Human Jukebox, the school's famed marching band.

“He walked this campus with a purpose,” Chaselynn Grant, a longtime friend, told the crowd. “I know he is smiling down.”

Wilson’s father, Corey Wilson, a sheriff’s deputy for over 35 years in Jefferson Parish, expressed gratitude for the crowd's support. He recalled walking into his son’s apartment in the aftermath of Caleb's death to find his marching band uniform laid out, ready for Mardi Gras season.

“I want to thank y'all for the love you gave my son,” he said. “This was Caleb’s life.”

Students, Southern could face both criminal, civil penalties

Louisiana adopted strong anti-hazing measures after the 2017 death of Max Gruver at LSU. Gruver was forced to drink at a Phi Delta Theta fraternity pledging event and died of alcohol poisoning. His parents became anti-hazing advocates and asked the Louisiana Legislature to create stiffer penalties for hazing.

The Legislature did so, and those who haze can now be charged under felony counts in Louisiana.

A former fraternity member in Gruver's case was convicted of negligent homicide in his death while two other fraternity members pleaded no contest to misdemeanor hazing. Their arrests came before Louisiana enacted felony hazing.

Despite heightened penalties, hazing has not gone away.

“There’s still a disconnect between students who want to continue hazing despite heightened risk to them personally," said Dr. Walter Kimbrough, the former president of Dillard University in New Orleans, who has served as an expert witness in hazing cases across the country.

Kimbrough, now interim president of Talladega College in Alabama, said the mindset proliferates that people have to earn their place to be part of certain organizations.

Kimbrough also said it's common for predominantly Black fraternities to use physical hazing while predominantly White fraternities more often use alcohol-related hazing.

"They’ve just evolved differently in terms of culture," he said. "For those guys who allegedly killed this young man as part of hazing, their lives are about to change in ways they can’t even imagine.”

Lane Ewing, one of the attorneys who represented Gruver's family in their civil case against LSU, said the Southern case could spawn civil suits as well.

"Certainly, there’s a civil cause of action against the hazers themselves," Ewing said.

Ewing said there are possible wrongful death arguments about Wilson's case, along with claims for pain and suffering that he endured before he died. And he said homeowner's insurance policies sometimes provide coverage in hazing cases.

The Gruvers named a number of defendants in their civil suits, which included LSU, the fraternity chapter and individual fraternity members. LSU agreed to pay the family $875,000 while nearly all of the others reached confidential settlements.

A jury also found in 2023 that the Gruvers should receive $6.1 million in their wrongful death suit as well.