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A former fraternity leader at Northern Arizona University was sentenced to two months in jail on Wednesday for his role in a hazing incident that led to the death of a student.
Carter Eslick, 20, pleaded guilty to a felony hazing charge in Coconino County Superior Court for the Jan. 31 death of Colin Daniel Martinez. Eslick served as the Delta Tau Delta pledge master at the time of the incident.
Martinez died at a Delta Tau Delta off-campus house due to alcohol poisoning, with an autopsy finding a blood-alcohol content of 0.45% shortly after his death.
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Carter Eslick in court (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool)
During the hazing, Martinez was among a group of four pledges who drank two bottles of vodka to ensure that they vomited, according to NBC News.
Hazing witnesses said they attempted to monitor the sleeping Martinez for signs of alcohol poisoning, adjusting his sleeping position multiple times.
Eslick told the court, where Martinez’s parents were present, that he takes “full responsibility for the hand I played in that ritual.”
The sentencing comes amid headlines regarding the mysterious deaths of two students at Ole Miss — one of whom was in a fraternity — and an alleged frat cocaine distribution ring at Penn State.
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Booking photos of Ryan Creech, Carter Eslick and Riley Cass appear over an image of a Delta Tau Delta fraternity house near Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. The three were arrested on suspicion of hazing after freshman Colin Daniel Martinez died of alcohol poisoning following a fraternity rush event. (Fox 10 Phoenix)
One of the Ole Miss students who was found dead this past week, Ryan Strang, was a Phi Delta Theta fraternity brother. He was found at an off-campus home. Authorities found packages of kratom, a commercially available drug that has been derided as “gas station heroin,” at the sites of both deaths. However, its role in either death was not immediately clear.
Phi Delta Theta has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
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Investigators examined a residence near NAU after a freshman died following a fraternity rush event in January. (Fox 10 Phoenix)
“The loss of two young lives is a profound tragedy,” the fraternity said in a statement. “Phi Delta Theta joins the University of Mississippi and the broader Ole Miss community in mourning Robert and Aidan Hamilton and extending our deepest sympathies to their families, friends, chapter brothers, classmates, and all those who knew and loved them.”
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“These losses reinforce the importance of a collective commitment to health, safety, and well-being on college campuses today. We encourage the Phi Delta Theta community to keep the Strang family, the Mississippi Alpha Chapter, and everyone affected by these tragic losses in their thoughts,” the statement continued.
