A former leader of a fraternity in Arizona has admitted to hazing after a pledge died during a rush event.
Carter Eslick, 20, pleaded guilty on Monday to a felony hazing charge in connection with the death of 18-year-old Colin Daniel Martinez.
Martinez died of alcohol poisoning while attending an off-campus rush event for Northern Arizona University, where he was pledging to the now-defunct Delta Tau Delta fraternity chapter.
He was found unresponsive on Jan. 31 and an autopsy found his blood-alcohol level was 0.425%, more than five times the legal limit.
Eslick and three other fraternity board members were arrested after Martinez’s death but Eslick was the only one who was indicted.
Under an agreement with prosecutors, Eslick would serve no more than four years of probation. A judge will determine the length and could also impose up to a year in jail at a Sept. 30 sentencing hearing.
Coconino County Attorney Ammon Barker said the plea doesn't diminish the “profound harm caused or the sorrow of Colin's death.”
Colin Daniel Martinez’s hazing death
Eslick, who is no longer a student at NAU, was serving as the fraternity's pledge master at the time of Martinez’s death, responsible for welcoming new members.
Martinez was among four men pledging to Delta Tau Delta who shared two bottles of vodka to ensure they vomited, court documents said. One pledge told police that he and three other pledges were brought to the party with pillowcases over their heads and were ordered to play a drinking game, Arizona’s Family reported.
Eslick purchased the alcohol for the rush event and explained the drinking game that led to Martinez’s death, state prosecutors said.
Witnesses reported adjusting Martinez's sleeping position and checking his pulse and breathing to look for signs of alcohol poisoning throughout the night, the documents said.
Police were called to the home at 9 a.m. the next morning and found Martinez unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The university suspended the Delta Tau Delta fraternity after Martinez's death, and the national organization closed the NAU chapter.
