Student found dead at OU Sigma Chi House
 

OU fraternity death investigated

From staff and wire reports

NORMAN -- Authorities were investigating the death of a 19-year-old freshman student at OU's Sigma Chi fraternity house this morning, Norman police said .

OU President David Boren to close fraternity

Blake Adam Hammontree, who graduated from Medford High School last spring, was found dead about 10:30 a.m., Norman police said. Emergency personnel were called to the house at 1405 Elm Ave.

Blake Hammontree is the son of Grant County Associate District Judge Jack Hammontree, the judge's secretary confirmed today.

Police said the incident is being investigated as a possible homicide.

"The university is thoroughly investigating this matter through the OU police in cooperation with the Norman Police Department," said OU President David Boren. "It is heartbreaking to lose a member of our OU family. Our love and sympathy go out to his family and friends. The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority."

-- Now, what I hear right now is that Boren (the President) has decided that the Sigma Chi house will be gone within two weeks. He is pretty certain at this point that alcohol was involved. I haven't heard much more than the above about the identity of the dead kid, but I'll let y'all know if I hear anything.

Do these things happen in threes?
 

About 10 days ago I posted that these things often happen in threes, and I hope this is the end.

One of the Fraternal News posts today by Doug Case mentioned Sept. alcohol deaths at Michigan, Princeton, and Magill (Canadian) - but apparently none are GLO related.

Agree, but unfortunately this could be four if this and the SDSU death turns out to be alcohol related. Remember, we've had two here in Colorado.

Our son, who goes to Oklahoma (not Greek) turns 21 in January and I have asked him to please be careful. I think he will. At least I hope so.

(Damn, KT, please use "Oklahoma" for the sake of my stomach -- I was really worried that this happened at my Alma Mater, Ohio University -- which is OU to those of us who grew up in the Midwest. I know that the text is from the local newspaper, but maybe you could change the thread topic?

The Norman, Oklahoma police say that the medical examiner has determined that the Sigma Chi pledge's blood alcohol content was .42. Please see the excerpt from station KTOK's web site in the thread on this topic in the "Greek Life" forum.

As a current student at The University of Oklahoma i will put forth a few words on this:

This is extremely sad and has an impact on much of the Norman Campus. From his friends, classmates and those in his fraternity to those that have never met him and see that this has hit so close to home much of the student body is taking this to heart. I myself have had numerous converstions about this with people.

Now don't hate me for this next part but the Sigma Chis here don't have a spotless history. They have been on social probation numerous times since i have been in norman and they have even celebrated this with a Shirt they made last spring in which it had the list of the semesters they have been on social probation going back to the late 80s and claiming that it is just tradition. I knew with their reckless behavior it was only a matter of time til something happened i just never knew it would be this. Two years ago it was a hazing incident last year it was an insident with a girl passed out in their lawn(this was definately not their fault the girl was walking from another party but they still caught the punishment from it), and earlier this year they had an unknown incident where multiple police vehicles were in front of their house. And now this. Well I truly am sad this happened and i wish it just didn't happen.


Most likely the Sigma Chi Charter will get pulled and beyond that the Police are treating this as a homicide and possibly taking legal action against the Fraternity and the Exec members or those they can find at fault. Plus the students father is a District Judge so i think the family will seek a punishment or a suit against the fraternity.

All of this is too early to speculate but i truly wish it didn't happen.

I feel like the impact of this will reach other schools in the area. I know that at UCO, we're paying a great deal of attention to this. I can only assume that our administration is as well.

Judging by all the times Sigma Chi was on probation, it seems like a suit against the general fraternity could be huge. I also imagine that the local chapter has very deep pockets.

Steel, what you're saying stacks up. As an alum, I attended a few OU Rush events. The things that I heard about that particular chapter were not positive. In fact, I recall browsing over one of their rush flyers that contained numerous inaccuracies and straight up lies concerning their GPA and other important stats.

From everything that's come out and from what I've heard in the past about this chapter, it was only a matter of time before this kind of thing happened.

Thought I'd post this here as well.

SIGMA CHI MOURNS TRAGIC DEATH

Yeah i know what you mean about their rush flyer, i looked at it as well and knew much of it was a stretch of the truth if not a direct lie. but thats not too important now. And yes they have a very healthy alumni support both in depth of pockets and lobbying power on the Norman campus.

how sad. thoughts and prayers to all involved.

As a Sigma Chi from the University of Oklahoma. I have read the posts and must say there are numerous rumors and many false statements..

The first that I want to address is that the "the older members stood by and watched him die"

Blake got sick around 1:30 in the morning. And was throwing up in the shower.. coherient responding to people. No more drunk than 90% of the guys on this board get on any given night. And its unfortunate that we are de-sensitised to someone getting sick from alcohol. His big bro and the president helped him to a couch set him on his side after he was done throwing up. The big bros roomate then watched over him until 5 in the morning until he fell asleep. And blake never woke up..

Unfortunatly getting sick from alcohol is an all to common thing at the University of Oklahoma and is just taken as an every day thing wether the person is of age or under age..

One point of reference. Since Blake graduated highschool he has lost 70lbs (4 monthes) and police found epherdra in his pocket upon arriving but the toxology report was stopped after they found the alcohol level to be of a "fatal" level..

Its my belief that Blake new his limits as a 220lb football player but overstepped them as a 150 college freshman..

I can assure everyone on this board there was no physical forcing of any alcohol down this young mans throat..

This is indeed a very tragic death.. Sigma Chi housing corparation (which will be going bankrupt) paid to charter 4 busses to take all all the sigma chi, alumni, and pledges the 200 miles to his funeral yesterday.

His family is in all of our prayers..

As far as the brothers of the Beta Kappa chapter, they have until this coming Monday to find a new place to live and a chapter with over 90 years of history looks like it will be gone from the university of oklahoma, for at least 4 years.


If anyone has any questions about the facts I will be more than glad to answer them to the best of my ability

Max

Remember Max, theres always strong arms around you

I agree totally with what you're saying PsychTau...

HOWEVER

Anyone involved directly or indirectly (i.e. family members, members of the chapters) should NOT be discussing this publicly at this point in time. You should be making NO statements. Until everything is sorted out, the only people you should be making statements to is the police and attorneys. What you say can and will be held against you in a court of law- just as the Miranda rights say.

But it's perfectly fine, and healthy, for people removed from this situation (i.e. GCers) to discuss this for reasons PsychTau stated

Thank you for your sound advice and kind words. It is greatly appreciated.

Thank you as well.

As many of you can tell, this thread has been heavily edited.

Some of the deleted posts really had nothing wrong with them with the exception that they may have quoted or made direct reference to other posts that were considered to be out of line. To those posters, I apologize.

The reasons for a thread like this in Risk Management is to hopefully learn something from this kind of tragedy.

This forum and thread are NOT for making comments about any national organization -- particularly unfounded ones.

Chapters are a somewhat different story to this extent: If a chapter has displayed bad judgement in the past, it is useful to know what it has done, again for the purpose of learning from the situation so it won't be repeated. This is, of course, providing those miscues in the past are relavent. I think the ones left above are.

On a personal note, the men of Sigma Chi that I have had the pleasure of knowing in the past have, for the most part, been outstanding. They, and their fraternity, should be sad and discouraged about this situation, but it in no way should be considered as reflective of their entire organization.

Again, my condolences to our Brother Greeks.

Member arrested for "furnishing alcohol"
 

Updated: October 7, 2004 8:56 AM

An OU student has been arrested in connection with the death of a fraternity pledge.

Cody Barrington, 21, is accused of furnishing alcohol to a minor.

The victim in this case was 19-year-old Blake Hammontree, who was found dead last week inside the Sigma Chi house on the OU campus.

Barrington pled not guilty Tuesday to charges of providing alcohol to a minor. Barrington's attorney believes the student is being pinned as a scapegoat and said his client is not to blame.

Police say Hammontree drank himself to death. And now comes the first of what the Cleveland County district attorney said will be several arrests.

Barrington is accused of providing alcohol to a pledge member.

"One thing that we can agree on is that, both sides agree, that my client did not purchase any alcoholic beverage for Mr. Hammontree," said his attorney, who believes none of the members of the Sigma Chi fraternity acted in a criminal manner.

Barrington is an honor roll student with a 3.9 grade point average. Welch believes there is little evidence connecting his client to a bottle of cinnamon schnapps. Police contend Barrington purchased that bottle for a pledge.

"They received information from a Jordan Mitchell that my client allegedly purchased liquor for Mr. Mitchell," the attorney said. "At this time, we dispute that allegation from being true."

Barrington's attorney also feels his client is being made the scapegoat for Hammontree's death.

And, he said, the university has done little to curb underage drinking on campus.

"We all know underage drinking takes place on college campuses," he said. "I don't know what efforts the University of Oklahoma has made to make sure that doesn't happen, prior to this incident. But what I don't want to see is my client being prosecuted or made a scapegoat because of this incident."

Barrington's next court date is November 9 when both sides will meet for a preliminary hearing conference.

OU president David Boren suspended the fraternity and ordered all the fraternity's members out of the house as the investigation into Hammontree's death continuies.

An October 8, 2004 news story with a few more details on Hammontree's death

The entire article is at

http://www.summitdaily.com/apps/pbcs...plate=printart

Drinking death detailed in affadivit

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 8, 2004

NORMAN, Okla. - A University of Oklahoma student who died after a night of drinking with his fraternity brothers was so intoxicated that he had to be showered and put to bed, according to court documents.

The affidavit also showed the members of the Sigma Chi fraternity talked among themselves and made several other phone calls before calling 911 when Blake Adam Hammontree was found dead about nine hours later.

Hammontree, 19, was found dead Sept. 30 in the Sigma Chi fraternity house. His blood alcohol content was .42, more than five times the legal limit, according to a state medical examiner's report.

A police affidavit said that Hammontree, a new pledge to the fraternity, had been drinking beer and a specific brand of Schnapps with flecks of gold in it the night before, the affidavit said.

Fraternity members interviewed by police said he looked "'obviously intoxicated state,"' and had to be helped to the bathroom where he repeatedly vomited.

Hammontree, of Medford, was attending a Big Brother/Little Brother party, one of two events held by the fraternity each year in which Big Brothers provide "'drink refreshments (alcohol),"' the affidavit said.

Police said they received information from at least one pledge that there was pressure and encouragement for the pledges to drink large quantities of alcohol at this party.

At about 1:30 p.m. Hammontree was escorted to his Big Brother's room and put to bed on the fraternity member's sofa because he was about to "'pass out."'

At about 10:30 a.m., when members of the fraternity went to check on Hammontree he was found cold, stiff, purple and beyond resuscitation.

Hammontree's death prompted OU President David Boren to shut down the fraternity house and form an advisory panel to discuss ways to limit drinking on campus.

Initially police said fraternity members were not cooperating with the investigation into Hammontree's death.

One pledge told police he was contacted by members the Sigma Chi fraternity and told to "'leave"' Norman and contact an attorney and "'quit talking."'

While no arrests have been made in connection with Hammontree's death, one fraternity member has been arrested for providing alcohol to a minor who was attending the same party.

Cody Barrington, 21, a sophomore business major from Southlake, Texas, appeared before a Cleveland County District Court judge on Tuesday on a felony charge of furnishing alcohol to a minor. He was released on his own recognizance.

According to a police affidavit, Barrington said he purchased several types of alcohol and dispensed it from his room. A police search of his room found numerous receipts and handwritten notes requesting liquor. . . .

This is pretty damning if it's all true.

You have to hope that if the pledge was really told that, that it wasn't by a member of the national Sigma Chi organization. That would be very bad news -- unless they were talking about talking with the media, in which case it's good advice. Stonewalling the cops is not acceptable.

A felony charge against the guy who allegedly supplied the alcohol is pretty tough as well.

What a mess.

yet another example of why not to be someone's beer b!tch once you turn 21.... underage friends would get ticked at me for not being ecstatic to buy them liquor when I turned 21.

According to recent reports, several people have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury this coming Monday through Wednesday to testify in the matter of Hammontree's death. The district attorny is quoted as saying that people have been "uncooperative" and that there has been "continuing resistance" to the investiagtion. See article at

http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/3826510/detail.html

Actually, thats not bad advice.

In todays legal climate its a really good idea not to allow yourself to be questioned about almost any crime without an attourney present to protect your rights or incriminating yourself by mispeaking.

If you say the wrong thing on a statement you can create a liability that didn't exist.

The police don't play fair and are generally not your friends when it comes to this stuff.

Thats not stone walling. Having a lawyer present is just common sense.

Do you guys disagree?

I agree pretty much with James, however I think there's a difference between "stonewalling" and being uncooperative with the police.

He is correct that it is best to have an attorney present.

Here's a story on subpoenas:

The Oklahoma Daily
University of Oklahoma
October 15, 2004

Witnesses 'uncooperative'
Subpoenas have been issued to witnesses of Blake Adam Hammontree's death.

by Kendal Kelly - Daily Staff Writer

The Cleveland County District Attorney’s office is issuing subpoenas to
numerous individuals who are refusing to cooperate with investigators in
the Blake Adam Hammontree case, said Tim Kuykendall, Cleveland County
District Attorney.
The subpoenas will require the individuals to testify in front of the
Oklahoma Multi-County Grand Jury beginning next week, Kuykendall said.
“This is not something we do often because usually witnesses are
cooperative in our investigations, but this is not the case in this
investigation,” he said.
Hammontree, an OU freshman, was found dead Sept. 30 in the Sigma Chi
fraternity house. Hammontree died from alcohol poisoning, with a blood
alcohol level of 0.42.
Some of the witnesses are Sigma Chi fraternity members.
Kuykendall said the Sigma Chi national organization said it told local
members to cooperate with law enforcement, “but it is quite obvious they
are not,” Kuykendall said.
In front of the grand jury, the subpoenaed individuals will either testify
or invoke their Fifth Amendment right and refuse to testify on grounds of
self-incrimination, Kuykendall said.
The witnesses do not have to testify if their answer would be
self-incriminating, Kuykendall said.
“Many of the questions we ask these individuals are getting to the facts of
what happened,” he said. “We are not asking them to incriminate themselves.”
If they plead the Fifth, then the witness will have a hearing before a
judge, who will decide if the individual has to testify or not, he said.
“If a judge orders them to testify and they refuse to do so, they could
face being held in contempt of court,” Kuykendall said.
If someone is ruled in contempt of court, they could face fines or
incarceration, he said.
At least one Sigma Chi fraternity pledge said there was some pressure from
members to drink alcohol on Sept. 29, the night before Hammontree was found
dead, according to an affidavit, written by Det. Jim Parks of the Norman
Police Department, for a search warrant.
The pledge told at least one investigating officer that “there was some
pressure and encouragement for the pledges to indulge in quantities of
alcohol,” the affidavit stated.
Daniel Carter, senior vice president of Security on Campus, Inc., read a
copy of the affidavit and said in an e-mail that it “[paints] a picture of
out-of-control underage and binge-drinking culture that is all too common
in fraternity environments, and on campuses in general across the country.”
“The active, older members put pressure on the younger ones to emulate
their behavior in order for them to fit in and be a part of the culture,”
Carter said. “While the actives usually have built up a resistance to high
levels of alcohol through years of rampant abuse, the pledges often are not
able to handle extreme quantities of alcohol as well. If taken too far, or
if the pledges are left unmonitored, they may die as a result.”
From the information provided in the affidavit, Carter said it is unclear
if there was actual hazing going on at the Sigma Chi house.
“In most hazing situations, the hazed individuals ‘voluntarily’ go along
with whatever they are subjected to in order to fit in,” Carter said. “The
situation in this case is no different. The culture of high-risk and
underage drinking and indifference to human life led to death.”
According to Oklahoma Statutes’ Title 21, Section 1190, hazing is defined
as “an activity which recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental
health or physical health or safety of a student for the purpose of
initiation or admission into or affiliation with any organization” that
operates in an institution of higher education. Endangering physical health
includes forced consumption of alcohol, the statute states.
Any hazing activity described in the statute “shall be presumed to be a
forced activity, even if the student willingly participates in such activity.”
Kuykendall said that without more specific facts than what are revealed in
the affidavit, it’s hard to say if hazing was going on at the Sigma Chi
house when Hammontree died.
“Forcing pledges to drink alcohol would be hazing, in my opinion, under
Oklahoma law,” he said. “Just providing them alcohol would not in and of
itself be hazing.”
At OU, hazing is defined as “an activity participated in or encouraged by
student groups, or any members, or associates of a group, in which
prospective members or pledges are subjected to or imposed upon to do
onerous, denigrating or hazardous tasks,” according to the OU Student Code.
In the case of a hazing violation, individuals or entire groups can be held
responsible, the code states. Interfrater-nity Council President Omar
Zantout said the issue of hazing is “tricky.” He would not speculate if
what happened at Sigma Chi was hazing.
Brian Burbrink, the managing director of undergraduate services at the
Sigma Chi national headquarters, defined hazing as “anything a brother is
asked to do that is not constructive to his initiation and is detrimental
to his mental or physical well-being.”
Burbrink said he did not feel comfortable commenting on the information
revealed in the affidavit because he had not read it himself.
However, he said the national headquarters is prepared to hold OU’s Sigma
Chi chapter accountable to all of Sigma Chi’s policies.
On the night of Sept. 29, Hammontree was attending a party following a big
brother/little brother ceremony. Police have learned that there was “a lot
of alcohol” consumed at the party, the affidavit states.
The affidavit states that prior to the party, more than one member of the
fraternity made a “liquor run” and asked other underage members for orders
and money to pay for them.
During the party, the alcohol was served out of members’ rooms, the
affidavit states.
At the party, Hammontree drank both beer and schnapps, and several
individuals described him in an “obviously intoxicated state.” Hammontree
had to be assisted to the bathroom where he repeatedly threw up in the
toilet, after which members helped shower and clean him up, according to
the affidavit.
At about 1:30 a.m., Hammontree was taken to the room of his big brother, OU
sophomore John Frame, where he was placed on a sofa because he was about to
“pass out,” according to the affidavit. Approximately nine hours later, at
10:30 a.m., members checked on Hammontree and found him to be “cold, stiff,
purple and beyond resuscitation.”
The affidavit also states that members then talked among themselves and
made numerous phone calls before calling 911.
One pledge was contacted by other fraternity members and told to leave
Norman, contact an attorney and “quit talking,” the affidavit states.
Although there have been no arrests made in connection with Hammontree’s
death, Cody Barrington, a 21-year-old business sophomore, was arrested on
charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor who attended the same party as
Hammontree.
The spokesman for Sigma Chi fraternity, Justin Shearer, declined to comment.

Sigma Chi Closes U of Oklahoma Chapter
 

As you might expect under the circumstances, Sigma Chi national headquarters has removed the charter of the U. of Oklahoma chapter. A Sigma Chi national officer, Jory Taylor, is quoted as saying, "the current chapter cannot continue and the current members are not permitted to assemble." The story is reported in the Oct. 21 online issue of The Oklahoman at

http://newsok.com/article/1343795/?template=home/main

According to the article Sigma Chi found that the chapter violated 10 sections of the fraternity's Risk Management Foundation policy and several other national Sigma Chi rules.

The article mentions that it would be at least two years before Sigma Chi could return to OU.

Update Nov. 13, 2004: More Subpoenas, More Grand Jury Testimony6 Expected


http://www.kotv.com/main/home/storie...age=1&id=72442

More subpoenas are being issued and the grand jury is expected to hear testimony from more people, including some Sigma Chis, according to the Associated Press story.

Ask any Lawyer, if you are supeneoed by a Grand Jury, basically, you have no rights. The 5 th Amendment doesnt hold water with them and you may not be apprised by Legal Council.

Strange isnt it? So Much for Constitutional Rights!:(

According to news reports, more felony charges will be filed against Sigma Chi members when Spring Break ends.

The A.G. Kuykendall is known for his crusades against members of GLO's. In this case, though, it may be justified. There is a lot of information out there that is prety damning where it comes to the SX chapter and their practices. I sincerely hope that it prompts other chapters at OU to take a long, hard look at themselves.