NOTE: PLEASE SEE THE UPDATED STORY HERE
Four Cal Poly students were arrested in connection to the death of Cal Poly freshmen Carson Starkey, who died last December due to alcohol poisoning while attending a Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity hazing ritual, according to police.
Agriculture business sophomore Haithem Ibrahim, 20, and agriculture business student Zacary Ellis, 22, were charged with felony violation of hazing causing death or great bodily injury and misdemeanor violation of furnishing alcohol to a minor causing death or great bodily injury.
Computer engineering student Russell Taylor, 22, was charged with misdemeanor violation of hazing causing death or great bodily injury and misdemeanor of permitting a minor to consume alcohol. Taylor currently sits on the Associated Students Inc. Board of Directors for the College of Engineering.
Agriculture business senior Adam Marszal, 21, faces the same charges as Taylor.
Starkey, 18, passed away the morning of Dec. 2, 2008 at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center. At 6:24 that morning, a 911 call was received from a house on Highland Drive where Starkey was subsequently found unresponsive. Following his death, investigators performed numerous interviews and conducted search warrants on nine separate locations, concluding that his death was the result of alcohol-related hazing at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon initiation party held at the house.
“It’s really difficult when any member of our campus community is involved in a situation like this,” ASI President Angela Kramer said. “It was a devastating tragedy to lose Carson Starkey, but (I think it was) no one’s direct fault; there’s no sign of malicious intent.
Discussing one of ASI’s board members being arrested in connection with hazing, she said, “It’s especially difficult because we don’t want to see him in this situation, but the fraternity (made) a bad decision that led to the death of a student. Our country has due process for a reason.”
She expressed her support for the greek community as a whole, saying this incident was not a reflection of its ideology.
Starkey’s autopsy had revealed that he suffered from respiratory arrest due to Acute Ethanol Toxicity, or alcohol poisoning. Starkey’s blood alcohol level ranged between .39 and .44 percent – a level exceeding the effects of surgical anesthesia.
This is a developing story. Continue checking back here for more information.
Previous coverage related to Carson Starkey’s death:
Carson was my friend and floor mate here in Yosemite. There’re only twelve of us on our floor, so we are all very close. His death was a tragedy that shook our lives and should not be forgotten, but as his friend and somebody who is still emotionally involved in this, I’ve got to say that learning about these young men facing criminal charges does nothing to set my mind at ease. I’ve never met them, but I can nearly guarantee you that the guilt they feel is more painful than any time they will do in prison. Sending these boys to jail won’t make anything better. It will only spread pain and suffering into more lives as a result of a single, tragic accident. Nobody wanted Carson to die. These guys didn’t hold him down and force him to drink. Sure, they encouraged it. They facilitated the atmosphere, but Carson drank the alcohol. He chose to consume beyond his physical limit and died as a result. That was his choice. I love Carson, but punishing these students for his death doesn’t feel right to me.
Just a thought.
You guys just don’t get it. Stop sticking up for your stupid frat buddies, they killed your friend. Show a little spine for crying out loud. Everyone feels bad when they get caught, life sucks sometimes. Don’t kill people and you won’t have to worry about it.
John,
I wanted to thank you for your well thought reply. I feel that too often people jump to blame others when the situation may be fuzzy. No doubt this was a hazing incident. I appreciate that you are able to see another side to this and can understand guilt that comes along with this. My heart goes out to Carson’s family and friends, including thos at Poly and in Texas. It is unfortunate that the fraternity as a whole made a decision that was most likely clouded by thoughts of fun and excitement. My heart also goes out to those men; they will have to live with this for the rest of their life. I hope they can learn from this and strive to be better men, to live up to the ideals Sigma Alpha Epsilon holds for them; ideals that they forgot about.
I agree with you John regarding the fact that Carson made the final decision to drink as much as he did. But it’s also important to not forget as a pledge you look up the members in the greek system and often see them as mentors. So when they encourage a certain behavior, you don’t want to let them down, even if you know it’s wrong. The power of influence someone can have on another life is truly unbelievable. It may be hard to believe that something to this extreme can happen as a result, but had they not set the situation up this most likely would not have happened. Yes, the guilt in the end is going to be the worst part of this situation for them, but the reality is, they did something wrong and they need to be punished. These situations have happened before at other colleges, so these ‘boys’ knew what the penalties would be for their actions if their hazing, which isn’t allowed to begin with, went wrong.
Just another thought.
I also agree with John that it was Carson’s choice. Yet, delivering the right amount of punishment will have a long term impact on others in the future. Future members of the fraternity will be cautious with alcohol when they recall that someone was charged with a felony for it. This in turn may prevent another death from ocurring.
However, there may be other ways of sending the right message than locking students up in jail.
I think it would be fair if these boys went to jail because I’m sure at some point they learned that hazing is “against formal greek organization policies.”
That being said, I agree with John D. that the guilt they likely feel is punishment enough.
Make these boys pay a fine which is used to set up a foundation/organization that educates against hazing.
It’s a sad story for all, but there’s potential for other lives to be saved.
I think it is ridiculous that you guys put their mugshots in this article. Carson chose to drink. These boys lives are officially ruined because of the guilt they feel about this event. I know these boys personally and I also knew Carson. This situation is hard on everybody involved and this article seems very one sided. I don’t think the Mustang Daily should have posted their photos because now everywhere these boys go they will be looked at differently. Now, their names are on the internet and even if they do not get convicted they can still be see by future employers and other citizens as nothing more than this. No matter where they go now, they will be seen as guilty in the public’s eyes because they now know what these boys look like. I understand trying to keep the public informed, but Mustang Daily you have gone to far. Think about the lives of these boys and the guilt they feel, and maybe you will rethink showing their pictures in the Mustang Daily. I love these boys and Carson was a sweetheart, but ruining 4 more young men’s lives will not solve anything.
The Mustang Daily didn’t ruin their lives; the guys made that choice themselves when they didn’t get the help Carson required.
They have been charged with hazing and providing alcohol to a minor. These laws were well-known in the Greek Comunity. If they chose to break those laws, which a court will decide, then they deserve to be subject to the punishment established by the law.
They also took Carson to the hospital, and Carson woke up and said he didn’t want to go. I’m not justifying the brothers actions, I still wear the Carson Starkey Memorial bracelet to this day, but I feel like this article needs to get its facts straight
These boys have been charged with felonies and misdemeanors, and like any other public newspaper, Mustang Daily published their pictures. They are lucky if their pictures haven’t also been shown on local evening news in SLO and/or in their home towns.
You mentioned concern about future employers finding their names and pictures on the web. Future employers won’t even need to go onto the web, most applications ask if you’ve ever been charged, not convicted, but charged. This is information the boys will be required to disclose, and if they are found not guilty then they will be able to disclose that information.
Life is not fair, and surely Carson’s death is not “fair” either.
It’s not supposed to “solve” anything. They are not being punished – they are being held responsible. They supplied alcohol to a minor. That is just ONE crime. The loss of this minor’s life is the end result of their absolute lack of responsibility and care. Yes, at some point, some responsibility has to be pointed toward the victim. But, in the end, the law says he is – sorry, WAS – a minor and, therefore, the adults (” “) in this situation were responsible for his well-being.
It’s not supposed to solve anything. They are not being punished – they are being held responsible. They supplied alcohol to a minor. That is just ONE crime. The loss of this minor’s life is the end result of their absolute lack of responsibility and care. Yes, at some point, some responsibility has to be pointed toward the victim. But, in the end, the law says he is – sorry, WAS – a minor and, therefore, the legal adults in this situation were responsible for his well-being.
Wow. The press release from the stupid ASI person sounded like it was totally useless… “due process”… eat shit. I assume the douche bags who were jailed for this untimely death are total assholes. Most people who tout their fraternity affiliation are, so I don’t give a shit about them. However, the poor guy who didn’t make it also chose to do whatever stupid shit event led to all this. Whether it’s better parenting or douche-avoidance-training, the poor guy was not properly equipped to say no to this shit. A college partier wanted to get crazy… Some fratty-frat dipshits gave him the opportunity. He took it. The tragedy is that freshmen like Carson are not taught that fraternities are only for cocks. There is nothing cool about bending over to be hazed. His is a sad and tragic loss.