5 indicted in alleged hazing death of Southern University student Caleb Wilson

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury indicted five people in connection with the alleged hazing death of Southern University student Caleb Wilson.

Flanked by Wilson’s family, District Attorney Hillar Moore said this case is ongoing.

“We are continuing to investigate,” Moore said. “The main thing are telephones that are being downloaded and other evidence and then hopefully cooperation of people that are now indicted.”

Caleb McCray, Kyle Thurman, and Isaiah Smith were arrested in March after Wilson, 20, died in February during an off-campus event for the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Wilson, a junior at the university, collapsed after receiving a blow to the chest as part of an off-campus “hazing ritual,” arrest court documents state.

McCray, who faced the most serious charges, is accused of punching Wilson in the chest multiple times at a warehouse, causing Wilson to collapse.

In court on Wednesday, Dec. 10, a grand jury indicted McCray for manslaughter and principal to felony hazing.

Thurman was indicted for principal to felony hazing and three counts of obstruction of justice.

Smith was indicted for principal to manslaughter, principal to felony hazing, and obstruction of justice.

Two new suspects, Winston Sanders, 22, and Jaydn Landrum, 24, were also indicted.

The grand jury indicted Landrum for principal to felony hazing and Sanders for principal to felony hazing, as well as two counts of obstruction of justice.

Jail records show Sanders was arrested and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Dec. 11, a day after arrest warrants were issued for him and Landrum.

Landrum was booked on Dec. 16.

The grand jury did not make a decision on a sixth suspect, identified as Jaelyn Grissom, 21, but can later if more evidence is brought forth.

Smith, Thurman, and McCray were already booked.

The grand jury also indicted the suspects for misdemeanor hazing charges for the other individuals who were being hazed that night, too, seeking membership in Omega Psi Phi.

The Beta Sigma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi has since been expelled from the university, and McCray, Thurman, and Smith were stripped of their membership by the organization.

“Rather than call the authorities once they realized something bad was going on with Caleb, what did they do? Change his clothes, come up with a story and drop him on the steps of the hospital,” Rob Marionneaux, the Wilson family’s attorney said.

Wilson’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in September. The junior was a mechanical engineering major at the school and a trumpet player for the Human Jukebox Marching Band.

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