New surveillance footage shows Madison Brooks leaving bar before her death and alleged rape
Brooks died from multiple traumatic injuries secondary to a ‘motor vehicle versus pedestrian collision’, reveals coroner’s office
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Newly released surveillance footage showed Louisiana State University student Madison Brooks leaving a bar allegedly with the four men accused of raping her on the night she was also fatally hit by a vehicle.
According to the footage, Brooks could be seen crossing the street with four people near Reggie’s bar in Baton Rouge and moving towards the parking lot, reported CBS affiliate WAFB.
Brooks reportedly met the four men, now facing rape charges, at Reggie’s on 14 January.
Authorities said that Brooks - who was visibly intoxicated - was sexually assaulted by the suspects in a car after leaving Reggie’s.
Footage from the bar showed her falling over several times, stumbling and struggling to stand in front of at least one of the suspects before they left the bar together, according to an arrest warrant.
The suspects then allegedly dropped her off along a dark stretch of road in the early hours of 15 January where she was struck by a rideshare vehicle and killed soon after.
Two samaritans attempted to give CPR to the 19-year-old before she was taken to a hospital where she died, Fox News reported. Authorities have said that the driver was not impaired when the collision took place and that they stopped the vehicle immediately.
In a statement to The Independent, the East Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office revealed the cause of her death, saying Brooks died from multiple traumatic injuries secondary to a “motor vehicle versus pedestrian collision”.
Earlier, Kaivon Deondre Washington, 18, and a 17-year-old male, unnamed because he’s a minor, were charged with rape in the third degree. Mr Washington’s uncle Everette Lee, 28, and Casen Carver, 18, were charged with principal to rape and were released on bond on Wednesday.
Under the bond terms, the suspects were ordered not to make social media posts about the case or make contact with Brooks’ family, to submit for random drug testing, be placed on house arrest, and to wear an ankle monitor. The 17-year-old’s bond hearing was postponed to February.
At a bond hearing on Tuesday, 19th Judicial District Judge Brad Myers said that he had watched a video filmed by one of the four suspects inside the car with Brooks. The judge said that the video showed that the suspects were “callously” laughing at the drunk 19-year-old woman as she slurred her words, reported WAFB.
The judge concluded that – based on the video, footage from Reggie’s bar, and statements made by Mr Carver to investigators – it was clear that a crime had occurred that fateful night.