Kappa Sig @ GC&SU stabbed to death after Halloween party

hoosier · #1 11-01-2005, 10:57 PM

Georgia College & State student stabbed to death

By KELLY SIMMONS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/01/05

ATHENS — A Georgia College & State University sophomore was stabbed to death early Tuesday during an altercation near campus, Milledgeville police said.

Evan Phillip Luke, 20, of Bogart, was stabbed around 2:30 a.m. as he was heading home from Halloween parties in downtown Milledgeville, said police Chief Woodrow Blue.

Christopher M. Layman, 21, of Milledgeville is charged with murder in connection with the stabbing, Blue said. Layman was arrested near the scene, soon after the incident. Police recovered a pocketknife they believe was used to stab Luke.

Layman is employed by Sears in Milledgeville and is not believed to be a college student, Blue said.

Investigators still are trying to piece together the events that led to the stabbing, Blue said, but have determined that alcohol likely was involved. He could not say whether the two men knew each other or what the motive might have been.

Luke, the son of Oconee County commissioner Jim Luke, was a management major and member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, college spokesman Mitch Clarke said.

Suzanna Trice, Evan Luke's older sister, said her brother's first passion was hunting and fishing. He spent the past summer in Alaska with cousins, enjoying those hobbies, she said.

"He was sweet funny and had lots of friends," Trice said. "Dad always talked about how he didn't know how he kept up with all his friends."

a.e.B.O.T. · #2 11-02-2005, 12:09 AM

A Beta was killed this weekend as well...

Five Arrested In Fatal Beating Of UF Student Downtown

UPDATED: 11:14 am EST October 31, 2005

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After a University of Florida student celebrating his team's victory Saturday was beaten to death downtown, police have charged five people with murder.

Police said 23-year-old Thomas Brown was brutally beaten during a fight on Water Street about 10 p.m. The beating happened just two blocks from the Jacksonville Landing, where thousands of UF fans were partying.

Channel 4 learned that the beating death was recorded by CSX security cameras -- video that is now in the hands of homicide investigators. Detectives say the video shows five young men surrounding Brown, two of them beating him. When Brown tried to get away, the other two held him back. Police said they also kept people who tried to help Brown away from the fight.

Brown was not breathing and had no pulse when rescue personnel arrived. They tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center.

Investigators said the five suspects left the scene in a cab. Police tracked them down near the Intracoastal Waterway, where they arrested:

* Alex Canzano, 21, of Jacksonville
* Mark Foss, 18, of Jacksonville
* Jeffery Groncziak, 19, of Ponte Vedra Beach
* Jeremy Lane, 21, of Jacksonville
* Casey Schuurman, 19, of Jacksonville

Police said all five were charged with murder, even though only two beat on Brown.

Thomas Brown
Thomas Brown
"We are not even certain of the motive at this time as to what triggered this entire course of events," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson said.

Members of Brown's fraternity told Channel 4's Jim Piggott that he was with them celebrating Florida's victory over Georgia. They said they are trying to deal with what happened.

Brown's father, Thomas J. Brown, said he was told by a detective that words were exchanged between his son and the attackers.

"He might have said something he shouldn't have, but it doesn't add up to murder," he told The Florida Times Union. "This isn't a fight, this is a massacre."

UF student beating scene
Police comb scene of beating, outside the CSX building on Water Street, less than two blocks from the Jacksonville Landing.
Samuel Canzano, father of Alex Canzano, broke into tears when asked about his son. He had tried, unsuccessfully, to contact him at the Duval County jail.

"He was not a kid who would do this kind of stuff," Samuel Canzano said. "With Alex, it was being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

A few football fans were around Sunday said they were surprised to hear about the crime.

"For the first year its been like no problem and then years previous fight there and fights everywhere," football fan A.J. Jones said.

A UF student died downtown last year after the Florida-Georgia game, but police believe that death was accidental.

David Ferguson 19, fell to his death from the upper floor of a downtown parking garage. He was last been seen partying at the Landing. His body was found a week later near the downtown parking garage where he'd left his car.

Copyright 2005 by News4Jax.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

hunnie843 · #3 11-02-2005, 11:01 AM

Oh my goodness! I read about this and I was in M'ville this weekend. This happened on the corner where the ADPi house is...and a stone's throw away from my old apartment! I know the greek system there and I can imagine it's a real shock. We lost 2 or 3 greeks while I was there and everyone seemed to band together in times of tragedy.

My thoughts and prayers are certainly with the members of both of these organizations.

ECUJacob · #4 11-04-2005, 04:31 PM

My brother was a Kappa Sig at GC&SU, so I guess I should pass this along to him in the unlikely event that he doesn't already know... my parents live right down from where this happened.

dzrose93 · #5 11-07-2005, 12:29 PM

My God. GC&SU is my alma mater, and I would never think of Milledgeville as being the kind of place where this would happen.

Hunnie - when were you there? Two Kappa Sigs-- one with whom I was very close -- were killed in a car accident when I was there in '94. I wonder if you and I were there together.

ECUJacob - who is your brother?

Y'all can PM me if you prefer.

ECUJacob · #6 11-07-2005, 12:34 PM

dzrose,

sent you a PM!

dzrose93 · #7 11-07-2005, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ECUJacob
dzrose,

sent you a PM!

Thanks! Small world, isn't it?

ECUJacob · #8 11-07-2005, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Small world, isn't it?

Definitely! Just goes to further prove that Greek Life connects you to more than just your own campus/chapter/brothers/sisters.

dzrose93 · #9 11-07-2005, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ECUJacob
Definitely! Just goes to further prove that Greek Life connects you to more than just your own campus/chapter/brothers/sisters.

Absolutely! We've got that whole "six degrees of separation" thing going for us as Greeks.