11 men have been charged after the body of Adam Oakes, a 19-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student, was found at an off-campus home in February, BuzzFeed News reports.
Eight men—Benjamin Corado, 19; Quinn Kuby, 22; Riley McDaniel, 21; Alessandro Medina-Villanueva, 21; Jason Mulgrew, 21; Christian Rohrbach, 22; Colin Tran, 20; and Enayat Sheikhzad, 22—were arrested on suspicion of unlawful hazing charges, while the remaining three, who have been charged with providing alcohol to a minor, are expected to turn themselves in the next few days.
“This is the first time these young men have been held accountable for their historically toxic and destructive traditions, manipulation of the VCU disciplinary systems, and for Adam’s death,” Oakes’ family said in a statement via Facebook.
Oakes attended an initiation party on Feb. 26, where pledges were matched up with fraternity members at Delta Chi. According to the website Love Like Adam, which is run by his family, Oakes was given a bottle of Jack Daniels and told to drink it.
“They checked in on him at midnight, he was breathing and OK and on his side, but then when they woke up, they found him face down on the couch,” his cousin, Courtney White, said, per NBC News. “And then they rolled him over. Half his face was purple, half was not.”
VCU suspended Delta Chi in response to Oakes’ death, one day after the fraternity’s national office did the same to its Richmond chapter.
