The parents of Bowling Green State University student Stone Foltz have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a fraternity and some of its members over his alleged hazing death.
The civil lawsuit was filed in Franklin County Common Pleas on Tuesday.
“By filing a civil complaint on behalf of Stone Foltz and the Foltz family, we are doing what is necessary to hold the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity, the local fraternity chapter, and individuals accountable for their behavior that led to Stone Foltz’s death," attorney Rex Elliot said.
Foltz, a 20-year-old from Delaware County, died last month days after an alleged hazing incident off-campus at a Pi Kappa Alpha event that involved alcohol.
The defendants in the complaint filed Tuesday include:
- The Pi Kappa Alpha International, Inc.,
- Pi Kappa Alpha, Delta Beta Chapter at Bowling Green
- Chapter president Daylen Dunson, 20, of Cleveland
- Chapter new member educator Troy Henricksen, 23, of Grove City
- Chapter new member educator Jarrett Prizel, 19, of Olean, New York
- Chapter assistant new member educator Garrett Hord, of Spencer, Ohio
- Chapter recruitment chair Jamir Dodson, of Mentor, Ohio
- Chapter sargent of arms Benjamin Boyers, 21, of Sylvania
- Chapter external vice president Niall Sweeney, 21, of Erie, Pennsylvania
- Jacob Krinn, 20, of Delaware and was "Big Brother" for Foltz in the chapter
- Chapter member Canyon Caldwell, 21, of Dublin
- Chapter member Aaron Lehane, 21, of Loveland
- 10 John Does, which are intended to be any person or entity liable
The lawsuit says that on the night of March 4, 2021, around 9 p.m., Foltz went to the off-campus fraternity house for a "Big/Little" event.
Foltz and the other pledges were "blindfolded by active members and led into a basement area while being yelled at and pushed in an effort to disorient them," the lawsuit said.
While in the basement, Krinn allegedly gave a bottle of alcohol to Foltz and Foltz was forced to drink it. He finished the bottle in as little as 18 minutes, the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, Krinn and others dropped Foltz off at his apartment around 10 p.m. The lawsuit claimed Krinn was supposed to spend the night with Foltz to make sure he was safe but he did not.
"Instead, Stone Foltz was taken from the car into his apartment and left alone on the couch to die," the lawsuit said.
Foltz' roommate found Foltz face down on the couch, still breathing, around 10:30 p.m. The roommate called Foltz' girlfriend over to help watch Foltz. Foltz later stopped breathing and his girlfriend called 911.
Medics took Foltz to Wood County Hospital and then flown to ProMedica Hospital in Toledo where he died a few days later.
10TV has reached out to Krinn's attorney but has not heard back.
The lawsuit lists several instances where Pi Kappa Alpha was linked to hazing across the country, dating back to 1965.
"In 2001, Ohio University suspended the Pi Kappa Alpha Chapter after members subjected pledges to dangerous levels of intoxication, resulting in five students requiring medical attention," the attorney wrote in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also includes a letter from a student alleging hazing at Bowling Green in 2018 during initiation, claiming new members had to strip down to their underwear and gather in a large hole.
In 2019, another report was made to Bowling Green for the same incident, alleging new members were forced to drink a concoction of alcoholic mixtures, according to the lawsuit.
It was not until the investigation into Stone Foltz that Bowling Green acknowledged that an unsanctioned event did occur in 2018.
The Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at Bowling Green was placed on probation from Dec. 2019 to May 2020.
The Ohio State University revoked the student organization of its Pia Kappa Alpha chapter in Jan. 2021.
Last month, eight people were charged in Foltz's death, including some who were named in the lawsuit.