Man, 21, sentenced to probation after Texas State fraternity pledge's death
A 21-year-old man on Wednesday was sentenced to two years of probation after prosecutors said he gave a bottle of bourbon to a Texas State University fraternity pledge who later died of alcohol poisoning.
Matthew Ellis, a 20-year-old pledge of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, died in November 2017. Austin Rice, 21, pleaded “no contest” to a charge of furnishing alcohol to a minor. Both were 19 years old at the time.
As part of a fraternity tradition, prosecutors said, Rice gave Ellis the bottle of liquor when he revealed he would serve as his big brother in the fraternity. Rice said he took the bottle away from Ellis before leaving the party and drove him back to Rice’s apartment, according to prosecutors.
Friends found Ellis dead at Rice’s apartment the next day, prosecutors said.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190227/man-21-sentenced-to-probation-after-texas-state-fraternity-pledges-death
