Posted on Mon, Feb. 16, 2004
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...al/7964400.htm
Woman touts anti-hazing law as late son's legacy
Associated Press
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - A decade since her son's death by hazing, his mother says those once accused in the case got soft punishments. But Edith Davis finds comfort in the fact that son Michael's legacy might be tougher hazing-related laws.
"We got a law passed," she says. "I feel pretty good about that."
Michael Davis died Feb. 14, 1994, less than 12 hours after being slapped, punched and body slammed before being kicked in the chest at Southeast Missouri State University's track-and-field complex.
Davis' autopsy revealed fractured ribs, a torn lung and liver, a lacerated kidney and hemorrhaging up and down his spine. His heart was bruised and bleeding.
Sixteen young men with black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi faced hazing accusations; seven of them were charged with involuntary manslaughter.
While causing Kappa Alpha Psi to be banned from the school, the case also upheld the constitutionality of Missouri's anti-hazing statute and prompted legislative changes upgrading serious hazing matters to felonies.
Fraternity members initially lied to investigators about Davis' bruises, blaming the injuries on a football game before they confessed.
Carlos Turner, a fraternity member who had been assigned to monitor the injured Davis after Davis was driven home, admitted he removed Davis' muddy clothing and fraternity paraphernalia from Davis' apartment, putting the items in a trash bag behind the building.
Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Morley Swingle offered the seven men with the more serious charges a deal: Plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and a hazing count and he'd recommend 30 days in jail for hazing, probation for manslaughter. Conditions included community service geared toward deterring hazing.
Only Turner and two other defendants accepted the deal within Swingle's one-month deadline.
A St. Louis jury that heard Lammoire Taylor's case on a venue change convicted him of involuntary manslaughter and five hazing counts, one for each pledge abused. The judge granted probation for manslaughter but ordered Taylor to spend a year behind bars.
Co-defendant Keith Allen, also tried in St. Louis on a venue change, was found guilty of five hazing counts and ordered to spend 18 months in jail.
Allen appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, arguing that the state's anti-hazing statute was "vague." But the high court disagreed and upheld the conviction.
Shortly after the convictions of Taylor and Allen, the remaining defendants pleaded guilty, though Swingle's plea deal no longer was available.
Vincent King was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter, but the judge released him after he served 120 days of "shock time." The judge also gave him a year in jail for hazing but suspended the sentence and ordered probation.
Another defendant, Michael Q. Williams, served three months in jail for hazing. Swingle said his probation for manslaughter was later revoked for unrelated reasons, and he was sent to prison in January 2000.
Nine other defendants pleaded guilty to misdemeanor hazing and got sentences ranging from 30 days in county jail to probation.
"I still think they got off lenient," Davis' mother says. "They weren't kids; they were young adults. They knew right from wrong."
Information from: Southeast Missourian
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