Ex-fraternity leader jailed after pledge died of vodka alcohol poisoning
Por Rich Booth — – World RSS Feed
Ex-fraternity leader jailed after pledge died of vodka alcohol poisoning
A post-mortem found Colin Daniel Martinez recorded a blood-alcohol level over five times the state’s legal limit for drivers
Rich Booth Thursday 01 October 2026 07:27 BST
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A former fraternity leader has been jailed for two months over his involvement in a hazing incident that caused the death of a pledge.
Carter Eslick, 20, was also given three years of supervised probation during a Coconino County Superior Court hearing. He had admitted a felony hazing charge over the death of 18-year-old Colin Daniel Martinez at an off-campus house at Northern Arizona University on 31 January.
A post-mortem found Martinez died of alcohol poisoning, recording a blood-alcohol level of 0.425 per cent — over five times the state’s legal limit for drivers aged 21 and over.
Court documents noted Martinez was one of four Delta Tau Delta pledges who shared two bottles of vodka to ensure they vomited. Witnesses described checking his pulse and breathing and adjusting his sleeping position during the night to watch for alcohol poisoning.
open image in galleryCoconino County Attorney Ammon Barker stated no sentence could undo the harm to Martinez’s family.
“My hope is that this case helps people understand the serious dangers of hazing and encourages them to speak up and intervene before another family experiences this kind of loss,” Barker said in a statement.
Eslick was the fraternity’s pledge master at the time and was responsible for welcoming new members. He’s no longer a student at NAU.
He could face additional jail time if he doesn’t meet the conditions of probation, which include delivering 305 anti-hazing presentations and keeping the court updated on his progress.
Eslick can’t use alcohol or drugs unless prescribed, and he must complete any treatment required after an assessment.
open image in galleryThe university suspended the fraternity after Martinez’s death, and the national organization later closed the NAU chapter.
Spotlight on fraternities
The spotlight remains on fraternities after a woman who filed a lawsuit saying she was sexually assaulted by seven men at a Cornell University fraternity house told police weeks after the incident that she could “say with 100% confidence I was raped,” according to a report by CBS New York, which said it obtained a transcript of her interview with investigators.
The woman, identified only by the pseudonym Jane Doe in the lawsuit, filed a complaint Sept. 16 saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house after being pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. She became completely incapacitated while fraternity members were sexually assaulting her, she said.
The transcript, which has not been publicly released, raises new questions surrounding the local district attorney’s decision not to prosecute anyone at the time.
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