Suspect surrenders in SU band hazing
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The Southern University marching band hazing investigation is winding down after the seventh and final student suspect was arrested Wednesday.
Clifton Taylor, 20, surrendered to East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputies Wednesday morning after six other suspects were taken into custody Tuesday.
Once the details of the investigation and the paperwork are completed in the next few days, the case could move next week to the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office, said Col. Ricky Adams, of the Sheriff’s Office.
The suspects are accused of beating and hazing three marching band members, two of whom were hospitalized last week with critical injuries and remain in serious condition.
The felony arrest records allege the students were repeatedly hit with a large wooden board during initiation into the unofficial “Mellow Phi Fellow” fraternity for the band’s French horn section at a house north of Baton Rouge.
“This is a very serious and extreme case of hazing,” Adams said. “The alleged level of physical abuse is something we’ve never seen before, especially for initiation into a social organization.”
Only one of the seven has admitted what happened, according to arrest records.
Jeremy Dixon, 22, of Natchez, Miss., “confirmed the incident … and was cooperative,” his report states.
The other six denied involvement.
Aubrey Harris Jr., 20, of Canton, Miss., is the only one of the seven with a prior arrest record, according to the sheriff’s documents. He was arrested, but not convicted, for drug possession.
The seven band members arrested are accused of “ritualistic torture” and charged with felony aggravated second-degree battery and ritualistic acts.
Ritualistic acts, which includes hazing, is punishable with up to 25 years in prison.
At Southern, first-year members of the marching band are referred to as “crabs.”
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