Security footage released this week shows Louisiana State University student Madison Brooks leaving a Baton Rouge bar before a car fatally struck her on January 15.
The video, first obtained by WAFB 9, shows four people outside Reggie’s bar in Baton Rouge as they walk toward a parking lot across the street. Sources told WAFB that a female seen walking behind the four males was Brooks, who caught up with them and left in a car with them.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 19-year-old Brooks was drinking at Reggie’s Bar near the LSU campus, when she reportedly asked Kaivon Washington, 18; Everette Lee, 28; Casen Carver, 18; and a 17-year-old for a ride home. She allegedly said she was intoxicated and couldn’t find her friends.
According to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, Washington and the minor are now accused of raping Brooks in the back seat of the car, with Lee and Carver in the front seat. Then, since Brooks was purportedly unable to tell them where she lived, they dropped her off in a subdivision; she was later hit by a car driven by a ride-share driver.
Madison passed away from her injuries at a hospital.
An autopsy revealed that Brooks’ blood alcohol level was nearly four times the legal limit, and all four of the suspects had been drinking at the bar. Only the 28-year-old Lee, however, was drinking legally, as the drinking age is 21.
Washington and the 17-year-old have been charged with third-degree rape, which Louisiana law says 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.”
Carver and Lee have been charged with principle to rape, which means they were present but did not take part and did nothing to stop it.
Washington reportedly recorded parts of the interactions during the last hours with Brooks, which showed the argument breaking out between Brooks and Carver.
The defendants’ lawyer, Ron Haley, said that Brooks agreed to get out of the car after she gave Carver numerous addresses to bring her to, which irritated and flustered him while he was driving.
“She gets upset with them and uses some choice language directed at Carver. After that he verbally asked her to get out of the vehicle. She acquiesces and says, that’s fine I’ll Uber to wherever I need to go next. That pretty much is it. She got out at a parking lot of an apartment complex at the Pelican Lakes subdivision. After they had driven off, she walked to Burbank Drive and was hit by another vehicle.”
Haley also claimed that Brooks “absolutely” consented to sex, according to WAFB 9.
“Absolutely not a rape. Listen this is a tragedy, definitely not a crime,” Haley said. “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.”
Meanwhile, Reggie’s bar has been temporarily closed after allegedly serving alcohol to minors. The business is reportedly cooperating with investigators.
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[Featured image: Madison Brooks/Handout]
