NEED TO KNOW
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University of Texas at Austin student Sawyer Lee Updike died by suicide in January 2024 at 18 years old
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At the time of his death, he was pledging the Sigma Chi fraternity’s Alpha Nu chapter
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His parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the fraternity for the “horrific hazing” they claim caused their son’s death
Parents of the late University of Texas at Austin student Sawyer Lee Updike have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Sawyer died by suicide in January 2024, at the age of 18. His parents, Sheryl Roberts-Updike and Lee J. Updike, filed a suit against the Sigma Chi fraternity’s Alpha Nu chapter on Nov. 20, according to legal documents obtained by PEOPLE.
Along with the Alpha Nu chapter, the defendants named in the suit include Sigma Chi International, as well as members of the fraternity who allegedly subjected Sawyer to “horrific hazing.”
“It was the combination of demeaning and cruel hazing and the introduction (forced providing) of illegal drugs which led to a psychological crisis that ended in suicide,” the lawsuit alleges.
Courtesy of Mandi Murphy/Ted B. Lyon & Associates, P.C
Sawyer Lee Updike
The suit says that Sawyer joined the fraternity in the fall of 2023, at which time he became involved in a “months-long hazing process.” The suit alleges that over the course of pledging the fraternity, Sawyer was speared with a fishhook during an alcohol-related event, his hip was pierced with a staple gun, deprived of sleep, burnt with lit cigarettes, physically whipped and beaten, and forced to snort cocaine into his nose.
The suit also claims that some of the alleged incidents were filmed or recorded.
“The fraternity brothers forcefully dominated over pledges and supplied them with and directed, encouraged, and/or forced them to consume illegal controlled substances,” the lawsuit said.
The fraternity brothers also allegedly threatened to sexually assault Sawyer’s girlfriend if he did not accede to their demands, the filing claims.
Then, a couple of weeks into his second semester of freshman year, around January 16, 2024, the suit alleges that “Sawyer went to the Fraternity House, where he was given cocaine and psilocybin mushrooms.”
He allegedly suffered the effects of those substances, “which exacerbated his worsening psychological crisis.”
The suit claims that Sawyer then drove to a nearby convenience store parking lot, “where he would tragically die by suicide.”
The lawsuit claims the defendants were negligent and grossly negligent. “All of the Defendants owed a duty to behave reasonably toward their pledges, including Sawyer. They each failed to do so.”
The lawsuit is seeking monetary damages for physical and mental injuries, from when Sawyer “began pledging the fraternity up to and including the time of his death.”
Courtesy of Mandi Murphy/Ted B. Lyon & Associates, P.C
Sawyer Lee Updike
“I live every day with the weight of his absence,” Sawyer’s mother Sheryl said in a statement.
“No parent should ever lose a child, and certainly not because of hazing disguised as ‘brotherhood,’ ” she continued. “What happened to Sawyer was cruel, senseless, and preventable. It is unbearable to know that a young man with so much promise was put through something so dangerous in the name of belonging.”
Sigma Chi executive director, Michael J. Church, said the fraternity’s UT’s chapter has been closed, CBS Austin reported.
“For Sigma Chi, our central principles call us to hold each other to the highest possible standards and to care especially for our brothers. Any individual who fails to do so betrays not only himself but also his brothers and the values we hold sacred,” Church’s statement said.
“We will expect and encourage that any individuals who are found responsible for any of the actions described in it will face the fullest consequences that our justice system demands,” Church said.
PEOPLE reached out to Michael J. Church for comment.
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