An Orange County judge ruled Monday that a former University of California, Irvine student must face misdemeanor charges in connection with the death of a fellow fraternity member.
Zavier Larenz Brown, 23, is accused of supplying a bottle of whiskey consumed by 18-year-old Noah Domingo at a party celebrating the latter’s acceptance to the U.C. Irvine chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Domingo died of alcohol poisoning after consuming a portion of the liquor.
“This should never have happened,” said Judge John Adams during a Monday hearing in his Newport Beach courtroom.
Brown faces misdemeanor charges of providing alcohol to a minor causing death, and orchestrating a gathering where underage drinking was permitted. Brown and a number of other SAE brothers were named on the lease of the house where the party took place.
Prosecutors have alleged that Brown ordered new initiates to the fraternity to “kill a fifth,” referring to the consumption of a 750 milliliter bottle of liquor. A single serving of liquor is considered 35 milliliters. Health experts do not recommend consumption of more than two servings of whiskey in under 24 hours, or a total of 70 milliliters.
In text messages sent to fellow SAE brothers on the evening of Domingo’s death, Brown reportedly promised to keep the increasingly intoxicated 18-year-old “alive.”
Brown’s attorneys have asked that the judge allow him to enter a diversion program for drug and alcohol addiction in lieu of facing the misdemeanor charges. Adams denied the motion, stating he did not “find diversion to be suitable.”
Brown’s attorneys said Monday the defendant had expressed significant remorse over Domingo’s death. “I can’t stop crying,” he reportedly wrote in a letter to Domingo’s family. “I am destroyed.”
Brown will return to court in December if he cannot reach a settlement with prosecutors over the charges.
Four other former fraternity members listed on the house’s lease have also been charged with misdemeanors in connection with Domingo’s death. All except one have pleaded no contest, receiving probation and community-service sentences.
SAE has been suspended from operating at UC Irvine in the aftermath of Domingo’s death.
“Young men and women drinking at universities, to the point of excessive intoxication, has resulted in incredible tragedies,” O.C. District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement on the case.
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