A grand jury has declined to indict a fraternity member linked to the hazing death of a Prairie View A&M student last year, a prosecutor who presented the case said Wednesday.
@font-face { font-family: “Times New Roman”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }DALLAS (AP) — A grand jury has declined to indict a fraternity member linked to the hazing death of a Prairie View A&M student last year, a prosecutor who presented the case said Wednesday.
Fred Edwards, an assistant district attorney in Waller County, said the county’s grand jury issued the no bill after meeting twice to consider the circumstances surrounding the October 2009 death of Donnie Wade II of Dallas. The grand jury’s decision was made on Oct. 28, he said.
Wade collapsed and died after he and other Phi Beta Sigma pledges engaged in a series of punishing physical activities on a high school track near the campus of the historically black university 45 miles northwest of Houston. Instead of contacting emergency medical personnel, fraternity members drove Wade to a hospital 30 miles away, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
An autopsy later determined that the 20-year-old student suffered from medical conditions that were aggravated by the exercises, including push-ups, sit-ups, running in place and running the bleachers.
Edwards said he sought an indictment of a fraternity member involved in orchestrating the activities.
Under Texas law, a hazing incident that involves a death is a state jail felony. The charge carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
"(The grand jurors) decided this didn’t meet the elements of the charge they were asked to consider, so that’s where we are," Edwards said.
Neither Wade’s parents nor their attorney immediately returned phone and e-mail messages Wednesday seeking comment.
Wade’s parents and the fraternity settled a lawsuit out of court. Donnie and Katrina Wade alleged that rigorous exercise was a standard initiation practice for the fraternity and that pledges also were beaten with paddles.
Prairie View A&M suspended the Phi Beta Sigma chapter through 2013 for violating the university’s anti-hazing policy as a result of the incident.
The Associated Press reported in August that the incident was at least the seventh hazing case involving a student organization brought to the attention of university administrators in seven years.
Edwards said he presented the grand jury with witness statements obtained through an investigation by Hempstead police, the civil suit and the university’s inquiry. He said the statements included "a fair number of contradictions" that would have made the case difficult, but not impossible, to take to trial.
Because grand jury deliberations are secret, there’s no way to know whether the inconsistencies were the reason for the no bill, he said.
Edwards said the criminal investigation took more than a year to resolve because of the number other inquiries related to the incident and the statements arising from them.
"I was just trying to be careful about making sure we had mustered all the information we possibly could," he said.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
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