Five members of the Pi Delta Psi fraternity at Baruch College will face third-degree murder charges in relation to the 2013 hazing death of Chun "Michael" Deng.
37 fraternity members were charged in the case last month and police began arresting them in waves so not to clog the courts. The final five members will be arraigned on murder charges Thursday morning in Pennsylvania, The Associated Press reported.
The prosecution also charged the Pi Delta Psi fraternity, which is headquartered in New York City, with murder. Of the 37 fraternity members charged, three belong to the St. John's University chapter while the rest are from Baruch.
According to Reuters, the five fraternity members facing arraignment Thursday morning are as follows: Charles Lai, 24; Kenny Kwan, 26; Raymond Lam, 22; Daniel Li, 22; and Sheldon Wong, 23. The minimum sentence they face is 10 years in prison and they are also facing lesser charges including assault, hazing, obstruction, and more.
Deng died in Dec. 2013 during a fraternity retreat in the Pocono's when he and other pledges were blindfolded and forced to carry a 30-pound backpack in the freezing cold while members randomly tackled them. One tackle in particular caused Deng to hit his head and knocked him unconscious.
The fraternity members delayed taking Deng to the hospital and called the national organization's president, who allegedly told them to remove any and all Pi Delta Psi emblems from the rented house. Deng died at the hospital of various injuries, including to his brain.
