Madison Brooks news: LSU student’s family is ‘blown away’ by victim blaming as they say ‘rape is rape’

Tiffani Carlini Roberston, the mother of a female student at LSU, wrote in a touching post that 19-year-old Madison Brooks’ memory “is in the heart of every woman attending LSU as well as their mothers.”

Ms Roberston said Brooks’s story had resonated with many in the local community and made them realise that there is a bigger conversation to be had.

“We may never rid the world of sexual assault, but Madi’s beautiful life is bringing awareness of sexual assault to a generation that till now has kept their pain to themselves,” she told The Independent. “Our hearts are breaking for this family we’ve never known.”

Meanwhile, an LSU student has created an initiative for fellow females to have a safer way to get home after a night out.

“If you go to LSU or have a daughter, friend, family member or any GIRL that goes to LSU, I’ve taken the initiative to make a groupme for girls to reach out to other girls for a ride home or just help getting out of an uncomfortable situation,” Alisha Ortolano, a pre-vet student at LSU, wrote in a Facebook post.

Mr Ortolano encouraged students to get in touch with her to join the group. Only those with an LSU email account can sign up and join the GroupMe chat.

They can then offer to give rides to women who find themselves in “any uncomfortable situations.”

“Feel free to message me and ask for my phone number to put in your contacts if you ever need a ride. Please share this. I want this to reach as many LSU girls as possible!” she added.

In a press conference on Friday, attorneys Joe Long and Ron Haley questioned the accuracy of body alcohol level (BAC) results showing that 19-year-old Brooks was nearly four times over the legal limit at the time of her death, ABC affiliate WBRZ reports.

Mr Long represents 18-year-old Casen Carver, who is facing principal to rape charges. Mr Haley is the attorney for Kaivon Deondre Washington, 18, and Everett Lee, 28, charged with third-degree rape and principal to rape, respectively.

A 17-year-old, whose name has not been released because he is a minor, is also accused of raping Brooks.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said that the men dropped Brooks off along a roadway where she was later fatally hit by a car.

“If you have a .391 [body alcohol level], your motor skills shut your body down. You can’t walk, you can’t talk, you’re lapsing in and out of a blackout,” Mr Long said.

“The evidence we’ve seen so far of Ms Brooks running across the street from Reggie’s undermines the police’s version of events, and until our experts can look at what happened, we believe that the BAC is inaccurate.”

Funeral arrangements have now been set for Madison Brooks.

The LSU student, 19, will be laid to rest in her hometown of Covington, Louisiana, on 3 February.

Her visitation will be held at St Peter Catholic Church in Covington from 11am on Friday followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 1pm.

She will then be buried at Pinecrest Memorial Park in Covington, Louisiana.

Police investigating the tragic death of Louisiana State University (LSU) student Madison Brooks have arrested and charged four suspects with rape.

Brooks, 19, was allegedly sexually assaulted in a car on 15 January after a night of drinking in a Baton Rouge bar before being left on a dark road in the early hours of the morning, at which point she appears to have been struck by accident by a passing car, dying later in hospital of her injuries.

On 23 January, Kaivon Deondre Washington, 18, and a 17-year-old male who has not been named because of his age were charged with third-degree rape.

Mr Washington’s uncle, Everette Lee, 28, and Casen Carver, 18, were also charged with principal to rape.

“Madison was a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a niece, a classmate and a friend... By all accounts, she was an amazing young woman with limitless potential,” LSU president William F Tate said in a statement.

“She should not have been taken from us in this way. What happened to her was evil, and our legal system will parcel out justice.”

When Madison Brooks was struck and killed by a car on 15 January, very few details were revealed about the circumstances surrounding her death.

But as her loved ones reeled from the sudden loss, the case took an unimaginable turn on 23 January when the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office announced the tragedy was not arbitrary, as initially thought.

The department accused four men of directly participating in or witnessing an alleged sexual assault of a very impaired and unable-to-consent Brooks before dropping her off on a dark side of the roadway where she would later be fatally injured.

The Independent’s Andrea Blanco is following the case:

In a statement to The Independent, the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office confirmed that 19-year-old Brooks died from multiple traumatic injuries secondary to a “motor vehicle versus pedestrian collision” that she suffered in the early morning hours of 15 January.

Authorities have said that the driver was not impaired when the accident took place and that they stopped the vehicle and contacted emergency services immediately upon realising that Brooks was hit, Fox News reported.

Two good samaritans then administered CPR on Brooks in the heavy rain before she was taken to a hospital where she later died.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office revealed on Monday that a severely intoxicated Brooks was dropped off along a road in a neighbourhood near Pelican Lakes Parkway after she was allegedly raped.

Brooks, 19, was allegedly sexually assaulted in a car on 15 January after a night of drinking in a Baton Rouge bar before being left on a dark road in the early hours of the morning, at which point she appears to have been struck by accident by a passing car, dying later in hospital of her injuries.

On 23 January, Kaivon Deondre Washington, 18, and a 17-year-old male who has not been named because of his age were charged with third-degree rape.

Here is a timeline of everything we know about the case so far:

The 17-year-old suspect is yet to be identified due to his age.

However, questions are mounting as to whether he will be tried as an adult in the case.

At a bond hearing on 24 February, prosecutors vowed to upgrade the charges against the four men accused of raping the LSU student.

District Attorney Hillar Moore’s Office has said that charges could be upgraded to first-degree rape and are planning to call a grand jury in the case.

One of four suspects charged in the rape of LSU student Madison Brooks — who was fatally hit by a car after the alleged assault — has been arrested in connection with a second rape dating back to 2020.

Kaivon Washington, 18, was charged this week with third-degree rape in the 15 January incident involving Ms Brooks, then posted bond on Thursday and was released in Baton Rouge.

On Friday, he turned himself in to authorities in Livingston Parish, about a half hour away, where he was booked on a count of first-degree rape stemming from an incident three years ago, according to The Advocate.

The Independent’s Sheila Flynn has the full story:

LSU College Democrats accused the president’s email of “victim-blaming” and demanded that the university renewed a “contract with sexual trauma awareness and response and release an accessible list of confidential registered trauma responders and organizations made by LSU.”

The group said that working with students to establish a concrete plan was pivotal to eradicating “rape culture” at the university.

The group demanded that Mr Tate use his “energy to fix the sexual violence our community faces instead of using alcohol as a scapegoat.” Mr Tate had previously said that the university plans to investigate why the establishment where 19-year-old Brooks met the men accused of raping her was serving alcohol to minors.

“While students are grieving the loss of our peer and fearing for our safety and well-being, your administration directs its attention to the underage consumption of alcohol. This response is inexcusable,” the group said.

The statement added: “These four individuals were arrested for ‘third-degree rape’ and ‘principle to rape’; not underage drinking nor driving under the influence.”