Bowling Green students indicted in alleged hazing death

Stone Foltz, a 20-year-old business major at Bowling Green State University, died three days after his roommates found him unconscious when fraternity members dropped him off at his apartment. Members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity allegedly took blindfolded pledges into a basement, pushed and shouted at them to disorient them, and encouraged each to drink a whole bottle of alcohol as part of an off-campus hazing event, prosecutors told reporters. On Thursday, they announced indictments against seven college students and another man in the March 4 incident. The county coroner ruled Foltz’s death resulted from alcohol poisoning, and the prosecutor said Foltz’s blood alcohol level was .35 percent—more than four times the legal limit for driving.

What crimes are the students accused of? Six received charges of involuntary manslaughter with a maximum penalty of three years in prison. Other charges included reckless homicide, hazing, and violating underage alcohol laws. The university expelled the fraternity in early April.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Leigh Jones’ report in Schooled on the hazing death of Pennsylvania State University sophomore Tim Piazza.