A former leader of a Northern Arizona University fraternity pleaded guilty Monday to hazing and causing a pledge’s death by making him drink excessively at an off-campus rush event.
Carter Eslick, 20, entered the plea in Coconino County Superior Court in Flagstaff to a felony hazing charge involving the death of Colin Daniel Martinez, 18. Under an agreement with prosecutors, Eslick faces no more than four years of probation, with a judge to determine the final sentence, which could include up to one year in jail, at a Sept. 30 hearing.
Mazrtinez, who was pledging to the now-defunct Delta Tau Delta fraternity chapter at NAU, was found unresponsive on Jan. 31. An autopsy revealed his blood-alcohol level was 0.425%, a level considered life-threatening.
Eslick was the fraternity’s pledge master at the time, responsible for new member recruitment. He is no longer a student at NAU. According to court documents, Martinez was among four men pledging to Delta Tau Delta who were instructed to share two bottles of vodka to induce vomiting. Witnesses reported checking Martinez’s pulse and breathing and adjusting his sleeping position throughout the night for signs of alcohol poisoning, the documents stated.
The university suspended the Delta Tau Delta fraternity chapter following Martinez’s death, and the national organization subsequently closed the NAU chapter.
Coconino County Attorney Ammon Barker stated that the plea does not diminish the "profound harm caused or the sorrow of Colin’s death."