Police in Louisiana have arrested two more people who were allegedly involved in the off-campus, fraternity hazing death of 20-year-old Southern University student Caleb Wilson last month, bringing the total arrests to three.
Baton Rouge Police Department on Tuesday announced the arrests of 25-year-old Kyle Thurman and 28-year-old Isaiah Smith. They were both charged with criminal hazing, a felony in the state of Louisiana, according to authorities. Law enforcement officials arrested Thurman on Monday in Port Allen, a neighboring city west of Baton Rouge. Smith turned himself into Baton Rouge police on Tuesday, the police department said.
Police said more arrests were expected after Caleb McCray, 23, turned himself into police on Friday. McCray is accused of punching Wilson in the chest multiple times as part of a hazing ritual for the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, according to investigators. He was charged with criminal hazing and manslaughter.
The deadly incident unfolded when Wilson and eight other fraternity pledges went to a warehouse of a flooring company in Baton Rouge on Feb. 26, police said. At the warehouse, they changed into gray sweatsuits for the hazing ritual that allegedly involved McCray, Thurman and Smith wearing boxing gloves and punching the pledges four times, according to their arrest warrants.
“Thurman proceeded to punch the first half of the group, McCray punched the second half, with Smith punching at least one pledge,” Smith’s arrest warrant said.
Wilson, who was in the second group of pledges, collapsed to the floor, appeared to suffer a seizure and urinated on himself, according to the arrest warrants. No one called or attempted to call 911 or tried to summon an ambulance, Baton Rouge Police Department Chief Thomas Morse Jr. said at a news conference on Friday.
Wilson was later dropped off by a group of males at Baton Rouge General Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Morse said. The time between the incident at the warehouse and Wilson’s arrival at the hospital was not immediately clear.
Investigators later found that the vehicle that dropped Wilson off at the hospital was registered to Smith, according to his arrest warrant which also noted that Wilson was changed out of his clothing before he arrived at the hospital. Wilson was wearing only black sweatpants and white socks, the warrant said.
Smith was confirmed to be the person in surveillance video seen removing Wilson from the car, according to the warrant. Investigators also later learned that he was the fraternity’s Dean of Pledges and was in charge of the pledges at the time of the incident. McCray and Thurman were also identified as current members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, their arrest warrants say.
Police said an investigation is still ongoing and it’s unclear if there will be more arrests.
McCray has been released on bond following his arrest, CBS affiliate WAFB reported. Information about Smith and Thurman weren’t immediately available.
contributed to this report.
