Louisiana sorority student Madison Brooks fatally struck by car after alleged rape

The Bobster

Senior News Editor since 2004

Louisiana sorority student Madison Brooks fatally struck by car after alleged rape​



By
Yaron Steinbuch


January 24, 2023 8:44am
Updated











Four male suspects have been arrested in the rape of a Louisiana State University sorority member after she was later dumped on the side of the road and fatally struck by a car following a night of drinking, police said.
Kaivon Deondre Washington, 18, Everett Lee, 28, and Casen Carver, 18, turned themselves in Monday, more than a week after 19-year-old Madison Brooks was fatally struck in Baton Rouge, the Advocate reported.
A fourth suspect, a 17-year-old boy who had not been identified because he is a minor, turned himself in on Sunday, the outlet reported.
Brooks had been drinking at Reggie’s, a bar near the LSU campus where she met the 17-year-old suspect on Jan. 15, the newspaper reported.
She left between 1 and 2 a.m. with the teen and the three other suspects, according to an arrest warrant.
Carver admitted to police that Brooks “was very unstable on her feet, was not able to keep her balance, and was unable to speak clearly without slurring her words,” the document states.
Carver told investigators he witnessed Brooks and the 17-year-old boy “hugging and walking together,” saying she asked for a ride home.

Dead LSU student Madison Brooks, 19Madison Brooks, 19, a sophomore at Louisiana State University, was fatally struck by a car after allegedly being raped inside a car following a night of drinking at a bar.Instagram / @madibrookss
“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 up,” the arrest warrant says.


Carver told authorities that he sat in the driver’s seat and Lee was in the front passenger seat, while Washington and the 17-year-old were in the back along with Brooks.


He said he asked Brooks for her address, “but she fell over and could not answer him.” the warrant says, “so he drove a short distance and pulled over.”


Carver “stated he overheard his 17-year-old juvenile friend as he asked the victim five times if she wanted to have sex with him,” to which Brooks “gave verbal consent,” according to the document.

Dead LSU student Madison Brooks, 19Brooks was sexually assaulted by an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy in the back seat of a car, police allege.Instagram / @madibrookss
He said the 17-year-old and Washington then had sex with Brooks before he told them, “We got to stop this, let’s go,” the document says.


When asked during the police interview if he thought the woman was too impaired to give consent to sex, Carver said, “I guess.”


Police also interviewed Washington, who said he was sad about Brooks’ death, but also admitted that he laughed while he walked behind her earlier and thought, “How y’all meet a random girl and just bring her home?”


He said they later dropped Brooks off at a nearby subdivision, where she was struck around 3 a.m. by a rideshare driver on Burbank Drive near Pelican Lakes Parkway.


Investigators said she had a blood-alcohol content of 0.319% — nearly four times the legal limit.

Rape suspects(From left) Casen Carver, 18, Kaivon Washington, 18, and Everett Lee, 28, were all arrested on rape-related charges. A 17-year-old also was charged.East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office
Washington and an unidentified 17-year-old were charged with third-degree rape, while Lee and Carver were charged with principle to third-degree rape.


According to Louisiana law, a third-degree rape charge generally involves a victim who is “incapable of resisting or of understanding the nature of the act by reason of a stupor or abnormal condition of mind produced by an intoxicating agent or any cause and the offender knew or should have known of the victim’s incapacity,” KSLA. reported.


Ron Haley, an attorney for two of the suspects, told WAFB that this was “absolutely not a rape. Listen, this is a tragedy, definitely not a crime.”


He told the outlet that a video taken during the incident shows Brooks was coherent.


“Can you tell that she was intoxicated, yes. To the point under the law that you say you’re in a drunken stupor, to the point that you cannot lawfully give consent or answer questions, absolutely that was not the case,” Haley told WAFB.


The attorney claimed Brooks and Carver got into an argument in his car.


“Based on a disagreement, she got out of the vehicle. She indicated she was getting an Uber. 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,” he said.

Dead LSU student Madison Brooks, 19The LSU sophomore, a native of Covington, Louisiana, was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority.Instagram / @madibrookss
Brooks, a native of Covington, Louisiana, was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority, KSLA reported.


“Madi was a bubbly, loving, and selfless friend. She left an indelible mark on our chapter, we cherish our memories together and we will never forget her. Our forever friend was also a hero, Madi donated her heart and kidneys to save others,” the sorority said on Instagram on Monday.


“We send our deepest sympathies to her family and friends during this incredibly difficult time. And we respectfully ask for time and space so we may support each other in our healing process,” it added.

Dead LSU student Madison Brooks, 19“Madi was a bubbly, loving, and selfless friend. She left an indelible mark on our chapter, we cherish our memories together and we will never forget her,” Alpha Phi sorority said.Instagram / @madibrookss Dead LSU student Madison Brooks, 19LSU president William Tate called Brooks “an amazing young woman with limitless potential. She should not have been taken from us in this way.”Instagram / @madibrookss
In a statement, LSU president William Tate said: “Madison was a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a niece, a classmate, and a friend to many of you. 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.

“Our collective grief and outrage cannot be put into mere words. 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 wrote.





He noted that three of the suspects are underage, “yet were able to consume alcohol at a local bar. As such, our action plan starts with a deep and relentless focus on any establishment that profits off our students by providing alcohol to underage individuals.”
 

Kaivon Washington, who is accused in Madison Brooks rape, arrested for sexual assault of 12-year-old: cops​



By
Jacob Geanous


January 28, 2023 5:09pm
Updated



One of the men accused of raping LSU student Madison Brooks before she was hit and killed by a car has been arrested on charges that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl in 2020.
Kaivon Washington, 18, was arrested for first-degree rape one day after he was released on bond for the case of Madison Brooks, 19, in which Washington is charged with third-degree rape.
Documents obtained by WBRZ say that Washington was 15 years old at the time when he allegedly raped the 12-year-old after she left a birthday party to go swimming at an apartment complex in Livingston Parish in May or June 2020.
The girl told police Washington ripped her towel off and raped her for approximately 30 minutes in an apartment.
The 12-year-old was taken to the hospital, and Washington denied the allegations. The case went cold until a witness came forward Friday and told investigators that she saw Washington go into a room with the victim.

Kaivon Washington, 18 was charged in a second rape case one day after he was released on bond in the case of Madison Brooks.Kaivon Washington, 18 was charged in a second rape case one day after he was released on bond in the case of Madison Brooks.Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office
“She witnessed the accused enter the victim’s bedroom, but denied hearing any voices or sounds that would have led her to think someone was having sex,” the arrest report states. “She further stated that she did not hear anyone hollering.”


Ron Haley, Washington’s lawyer, pointed at the timing of the witness stepping forward in a statement following his client’s arrest.


“Mr. Washington and his mother cooperated with the investigation two years ago, and law enforcement took no action,” Haley said. “Upon the review of the new statement from a witness that came forward yesterday, we are concerned not only of the timing of this statement, but whether it meets the threshold of probable cause.”

Police say Brooks was sexually assaulted before she was hit by a car and died.Police say Brooks was sexually assaulted before she was hit by a car and died. instagram/@madibrookss
Washington, alongside two other men and a 17-year-old, was charged in connection with the alleged rape of Brooks earlier this month.


Washington and the 17-year-old were charged with raping Brooks, while Everett Lee, 28, and Casen Carver, 18, were charged with principle to third-degree rape, meaning they witnessed it but did not participate.


Brooks exited the car after the alleged rape and was hit and killed by another vehicle, but the attorney Haley said Brooks — who police say had a blood alcohol level of .319, four times the legal driving limit — left the car on her own accord.

Deputies arrested four in LSU student Madison Brooks case: from left, Kaivon Deondre Washington, Casen Carver and Everette Lee.Four were arrested in the Madison Brooks case. Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office
“They did not just dump her out of the car,” Haley told WAFB. “They did not force her out of the vehicle,” he added, saying one of the videos showed her getting out. “I think at one point one of the others tries to calm the situation down and say, look just kind of get back in the car. She doesn’t want to.”


“I want the public to know, these young men … did not put her off on the side of the road,” Haley added.
 
Back
Top