A suspect has been arrested in connection with the death of a Southern University and A&M College student, who died after he was repeatedly punched in the chest during a pledge ritual at an off-campus fraternity event.
Caleb McCray — a graduate of the college in Baton Rouge, La. — turned himself in to police Thursday night, one week after the death of Caleb Wilson, a mechanical engineering junior at the school and an Omega Psi Phi fraternity pledge.
Wilson was dropped off at the hospital in the early hours of Feb. 27 by a group of other men, who claimed he suddenly collapsed while they played basketball at North Sherwood Forest Community Park.
Upon further investigation, authorities established this was not actually the case. They ultimately determined Wilson was at a warehouse in Baton Rouge and that he died “as a direct result of a hazing incident where he was punched in the chest multiple times while pledging to Omega Psi Phi,” Baton Rouge Police Department Chief Thomas Morse Jr. told reporters.
The men who dropped Wilson off were no longer at the hospital when police arrived, he said. Morse also noted that no one involved in the incident called 911 at any point.
No other details about McCray’s arrest were provided. He was being held in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
“I maintain my client’s innocence and urge the public to withhold rushing to judgment until all the evidence is heard,” his attorney, Phillip Robinson, said in a statement.
Morse also noted that authorities are in the process of seeking another two arrest warrants in connection with the case.
With News Wire Services
