LSU sophomore Madison Brooks was seen earlier that night allegedly drinking with four males who are now accused of rape charges. She, along with three of the males she left with, are teenagers and younger than the minimum legal drinking age.
Reggie’s Bar in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had its liquor license temporarily suspended this week after Madison Brooks, the Louisiana State University student who was allegedly sexually assaulted before she was fatally struck by a car, was seen leaving the popular college bar possibly intoxicated shortly before her death, authorities said.
The 19-year-old sophomore was last seen staggering out of the bar and getting into a car with four males before she died later that night, according to prosecutors. She was seen earlier in the night drinking with the group of males, three of whom are teenagers.
Of the group of four males, an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old are charged with third-degree rape, while a 28-year-old and the 18-year-old driving the car are charged with principle to third-degree rape, meaning they were present but did not take part in the alleged crime.
Brooks later died of “multiple traumatic injuries [secondary to] motor vehicle collision vs. pedestrian” when she was struck by a ride-share driver on a four-lane highway, the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office told Inside Edition Digital.
The driver of the car that accidentally hit her was not impaired, and remained at the scene until emergency personnel arrived, according to CBS News. The driver was not charged.
Brooks was “unable to speak clearly without slurring her words,” one of the suspects told authorities, according to a police affidavit. Her blood alcohol content was recorded at 0.319, according to medical records from her hospitalization, which is nearly four times the legal limit, and consistent with official definition of alcohol poisoning and loss of consciousness, according to the affidavit.
Reggie’s Bar has faced allegations in the past of being a notorious haven for underage drinking, with various freshmen and sophomore at LSU calling it “a good time,” and “a good place to come together and have fun,” according to WAFB.
This latest liquor license suspension comes following another instance in 2017 when Reggie’s was banned from serving alcohol for 45 days.
Meanwhile, prosecutors are now looking to seek upgraded first-degree rape charges for the four accused, as well as convene a grand jury in the case, WAFB reported.
Prior to setting bond, 19th Judicial District Judge Brad Myers said during a Tuesday hearing that he watched a video filmed by one of the suspects, and said it showed the suspects “callously” laughing while Brooks slurred her words inside the car, according to WAFB.
“The evidence to me is clear” that a crime occurred, Myers said, upon reviewing the video footage.
Attorney Ron Haley, who is representing two of the suspects in the crime, said he believed the video footage would demonstrate the sexual acts done in the car were “consensual,” he told WAFB earlier this week.
“Can you tell that she was intoxicated? Yes. To the point under the law that you say you’re in a drunken stupor, to the point that you cannot lawfully give consent or answer questions? Absolutely that was not the case,” Haley said, according to WAFB.
“Listen, this is a tragedy, definitely not a crime,” he said.
Three of the suspects have been released on bail, according to jail records. The 17-year-old suspect, whose name was not released because he is a minor, is booked in juvenile detention.
Their attorneys have not responded to Inside Edition Digital’s request for comment.
