A former Texas Christian University (TCU) student received probation for a hazing incident that happened in 2018.
Christopher Barksdale, who was 19 years old at the time of the incident, was found guilty of attempted hazing and received a sentence of deferred probation for the misdemeanor charge.
The sentencing was held in a Fort Worth courtroom earlier this week.
Barksdale targeted two freshmen who wanted to pledge to the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He apparently did so with Andrew Walker, a 19-year-old from Massachusetts, who was also arrested a few days after the incident happened.
On September 3, 2018, the pledges were told to go to the Kappa Sigma fraternity house and bring a “handle” of Tito’s vodka. A “handle” is 1.75 liters of vodka. Barksdale texted the order from his phone, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
That day, shortly after 4 o’clock, the pledges showed up with a bottle of vodka. The upper-classmen directed the freshmen to the defendant’s room on the second floor. One of the pledges was called to the bathroom, where the defendant handed him a beer and told him to drink it as quickly as possible.
Barksdale then emptied a bottle of decorative sprinkles, and the pledges were instructed to sort them. They were forced to drink vodka if they did not finish the task on time.
According to the arrest warrant, the two older students yelled at the pledges as they tried to sort the sprinkles and ordered them to drink vodka. The pledges were told to drink vodka 10 to 15 times.
Both pledges were also forced to eat expired guacamole.
The warrant stated that one pledge was discovered unconscious in the defendant’s room, and another Kappa Sigma member thought the pledge had died.
First responders took the pledge to a hospital after fraternity members called an ambulance. He was taken to Harris Methodist Hospital Emergency Room, where he was treated for acute alcohol poisoning.
The pledge told investigators he “only remembers waking up in the hospital.” His blood alcohol level was clocked at 0.4%, a potentially lethal concentration.
The other intoxicated pledge was carried back to his dorm room.
As mentioned above, Walker was also arrested for the hazing incident, but he died just weeks after his arrest after jumping from a fourth-floor parking garage on TCU’s campus.
