Eleven men were arrested for unlawful hazing following the death of Adam Oakes. He was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University and died during a pledge party to the Delta Chi Fraternity in February.
According to WWBT and jail records, eight men had been taken into custody as of Friday. Three other men were to surrender to police. The Richmond Police Department didn't respond to a Sunday request for comment.
Oakes' family released a Facebook statement saying that this was the first time that these young men were held responsible for their toxic and destructive traditions, manipulations of the VCU discipline systems, and Adams death.
After a Feb. 26 party that celebrated matching pledges among fraternity members, Oakes was found unresponsive by police officers on the couch at an off-campus residence.
"Adam was given a bottle Jack Daniels at this big/little surprise night and told to have it," says a statement on Love Like Adam's website. Oakes's family runs the page. "Adam wanted nothing but to be accepted by Delta Chi brothers and become their fraternity member."
His family has been advocating for harsher punishments of hazing incidents since his death. The Love Like Adam website has attributed Oakes's demise not only to the fraternity but also to the students involved. It reads, "Due to events of one night and one group of boys and one fraternity custom, Adam's life ended."
Benjamin Corado, Quinn Kuby, 22, Riley McDaniel 21; Alessandro Medina–Villanueva 21; Jason Mulgrew 21; Christian Rohrbach 22; Colin Tran 20; Enayat Shikzad 22.
Corado, Kuby and Tran were also charged with providing alcohol for minors.
Many people believe these boys are boys. Oakes' cousin Courtney White, who runs Love Like Adam, stated to the New York Times that after the arrests, many people believed this. They took advantage of Adam because he was a boy. Adam would still exist if any of them had acted like men and called for help.
In a statement, the college stated that it continues to mourn Adam Oakes' tragic death and was grateful to the Richmond Police Department who conducted the investigation.
Eight men have been detained so far and are expected to appear in court Monday.
