Lawsuit in Prairie View Student’s Death Alleges Hazing

The parents of a 20-year-old Prairie View A&M University transfer student who died last month are suing the school and Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, among other defendants.

Dallas lawyer Kevin Kelley filed the lawsuit Friday in state district court in connection to the Oct. 20 death of Donnie Wade Jr. Wade died after he and other pledges participated in an early-morning run off campus.

Calls and e-mails by The Associated Press on Tuesday night to university spokeswoman Sheleah Hughes and the fraternity weren't immediately returned.

Hughes has said Wade, a junior from Dallas, was with other students at the Hempstead High School track about 9 miles from the university's campus when he became ill.

The lawsuit alleges his death was due to hazing. The lawsuit claims Wade was hazed beginning Sept. 29, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Would-be Phi Beta Sigma pledges were forced to perform various physical activities and calisthenics at a high school track near the university before dawn on the day Wade died, the suit alleges. The suit claims that Wade collapsed at the track, but the others did not call for help.

Other people there tried splashing water on his face and eventually drove him home before deciding to take him to a hospital, where he died, the suit alleges.