BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A grand jury has indicted four people on charges in the death of a Louisiana State University student whose blood-alcohol content was more than six times the legal limit for driving.
The state grand jury issued the indictments Thursday, six months after 18-year-old Maxwell Gruver's death. The freshman from Roswell, Georgia, died at a hospital after Phi Delta Theta members found him lying on a couch at the fraternity house and couldn't tell if he was breathing.
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The jury indicted 20-year-old Matthew Alexander Naquin of Boerne, Texas, on a charge of felony negligent homicide, and three others on a misdemeanor charge of hazing. The felony charge is punishable by up to five years in prison. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a maximum of 30 days in jail.
A statement from the Gruver family spokesperson to NBC News said:
"We continue to mourn the passing of our son, Maxwell Gruver, and struggle each day with this tragedy. While nothing can lessen the pain that we feel, we are pleased to see indictments issued in connection with Max's untimely death. We hope that other outstanding charges will be brought and we will continue to champion and support legislation that recognizes hazing as a felonious crime. We will be watching this case closely and are grateful and confident that justice for Max will be served.
Police reports suggest Gruver may have been forced to consume excessive amounts of alcohol during a game called "Bible Study" on the night before his death.
According to the reports filed in court, "Bible Study" meant Phi Delta Theta pledges had to drink if they incorrectly answered questions about the fraternity during a gathering the night before 18-year-old Gruver died. The report also states pledges were "taking pulls" from a "190 proof alcohol called Diesel." Gruver reportedly took 10 to 12 pulls.
Gruver was said to have a blood-alcohol level of .495, several times the legal limit to drive.
A witness told police that Gruver was "highly intoxicated" when members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity left him on a couch sometime after midnight on Sept. 14. Around 11 a.m. that morning, members found Gruver still on the couch with a weak pulse and couldn't tell if he was breathing. He died at a hospital later that day.
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