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Four Arrested After LSU Student Is Fatally Struck By Car Following Alleged Rape
Madison Brooks was allegedly raped by two suspects, including a 17-year-old male, before being left on the road after a night of heavy drinking.
Four males have been arrested after a beloved university student was raped and left on the side of the road.
Louisiana State University sophomore Madison Brooks, 19, was fatally struck by a vehicle in the early morning hours of Jan. 16, according to multiple arrest affidavits e-mailed to Oxygen.com by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office (EBRSO). Deputies say four suspects left the victim in the area where she was hit after two of them allegedly raped her following a night of heavy drinking.
Kaivon Washington, 18, and an unnamed 17-year-old minor are now being held on charges of third-degree rape, while Washington’s uncle Everett Lee, 28, and friend Casen Carver, 18, are being charged with being principles to the rape.
Responders were called to the scene of a crash on Jan. 16 after a vehicle struck Brooks on Burbank Drive shortly before 3:00 a.m., according to the affidavit by EBRSO Lieutenant Tarik Mokdaf.
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The vehicle involved was reportedly being driven by a ride-share driver, according to CBS Shreveport affiliate KSLA, who hit the victim as she stood on the dark portion of the road.
Brooks was taken to an area hospital but eventually succumbed to her injuries from the accident.
Mokdaf stated in the affidavit that he learned the victim was at a local bar with “four male suspects,” including Casen Carver, who spoke to authorities hours after the crash.
Carver stated that on the night of Jan. 15 — just hours before the accident — he and the three other suspects went to Reggie’s Bar, where they began drinking with the victim, according to the affidavit. Carver said none of them previously knew Brooks, who appeared visibly drunk and was falling over, slurring her words, and incapable of standing on her own, as seen in video footage from the bar later examined by authorities.
Surveillance showed the victim and the juvenile “hugging and dancing” and that the victim “stumbled backwards” from her barstool at around 1:00 a.m., according to the affidavit. She was later seen falling outside the bar before the 17-year-old allegedly helped her to her feet.
Hospital tests administered following the car accident would show the victim had a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .319 (nearly four times the legal limit), which, according to studies by the University of Notre Dame and cited in the affidavit, falls well into the range of alcohol poisoning and loss of consciousness. A postmortem examination also showed THC was present in the victim’s system.
“[Carver] stated the victim asked for a ride home and he admitted that he agreed to give her a ride because he did not want to leave her while very intoxicated and the bar was closing,” authorities wrote in the affidavit. “[Carver] stated he asked the victim about her friends, but she was ‘drunk’ and did not know where her friends were.”
Carver allegedly admitted to getting behind the wheel of his vehicle, with Lee in the front passenger’s seat and the victim in the backseat with Washington and the unnamed 17-year-old. When asked, Brooks was too intoxicated to provide her address so that Carver could take her home.
The affidavit states Carver “drove a short distance” and “overheard his 17-year-old juvenile friend as he asked the victim five times if she wanted to have sex with him.”
Washington reportedly exited this vehicle while the teenager allegedly had sex with the victim, who was too inebriated to give consent. Carver and Lee remained in the front seat, per Carver’s alleged statements.
Following the alleged rape, the teenage suspect exited the vehicle before Washington returned.
Carver said Brooks agreed to have sex with Washington, though legally she was too inebriated to make that decision, owing to the criminal charges.
“We have to stop this; let’s go,” Carver allegedly told the others.
Carver told authorities he “hated it” and that after Washington allegedly raped Brooks, he continued to drive in an attempt to find the victim’s home before dropping her off near a subdivision.
Authorities say the interim between when Brooks left the bar with the suspects and when she was dropped off was about 50 minutes.
Defense Attorney Ron Haley, representing Washington and the minor suspect, told CBS Baton Rouge affiliate WAFB the victim exited the car on her own after failed attempts to locate her address.
“Based on a disagreement [with Carver], she got out of the vehicle. She indicated she was getting an Uber,” said Haley. “I want the public to know, these young men, or really, the driver of the vehicle and the young men that were in there, did not put her off on the side of the road.”
It was unclear whether Brooks ordered the ride-share involved in the fatal accident.
Haley further called the sexual acts “consensual,” claiming the incident was captured on video, evidence he says he’ll soon be handing over to the district attorney’s office.
Speaking on behalf of Carver, defense attorney Joe Long told The Advocate that while the case is a “tragedy,” it was “not a crime.”
“When all the evidence is known, everyone will see this is not a crime,” said Long.
The alleged rape and death of Brooks sent shock around the community, as stated by LSU President William F. Tate IV in a statement released Monday.
“Madison was a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a niece, a classmate, and a friend to many of you,” Tate stated, in part. “By all accounts, she was an amazing young woman with limitless potential. She should not have been taken from us in this way. What happened to her was evil, and our legal system will parcel out justice.”
Tate accused the local bar of serving alcohol to underage minors.
“Our collective grief and outrage cannot be put into mere words,” Tate stated. “So what can we do? It is time for action. One place to target our attention is the very place where this encounter began.”
Tate said he and his office have created an “action plan,” calling to meet with local business owners to “discuss how their responsibilities directly impact the safety of our students,” according to the release.
Brooks, originally of Covington, Louisiana, was previously enrolled at St. Scholastica Academy, according to The Advocate. She was also a member of the Alpha Phi sorority, which posted on Instagram in the wake of Brooks’ death.
“Madison was a sophomore and made a lasting impact on all of us,” according to the sorority. “She was also a hero and was able to donate her heart and kidneys to save others.”
Jail records reviewed by Oxygen.com show the three named suspects were booked Monday into the East Baton Rouge Parish jail. The minor is due to appear in court for a pretrial bond hearing in February.
