ATLANTA — A metro Atlanta family wants stiffer penalties for hazing after it killed their son.
Roswell native Max Gruver died of alcohol poisoning at a frat house at Louisiana State University in 2017.
Channel 2′s Justin Wilfon spoke with Gruver’s family, who want to make hazing a felony in Georgia. They’ve already helped to make it a felony in Louisiana.
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Stephen Gruver said they are trying to prevent other families from feeling their pain.
“It’s really what we need: to have this information get out, to get more exposure to what’s so dangerous,” Gruver said. “Hazing is just so dangerous.”
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Gruver said making hazing a felony is a deterrent for hazers, but also people for who witness hazing.
“It’s also a deterrent for the people around them to hopefully step up and make a difference and say, ‘Hey guys, it’s not worth going to jail,’” Gruver said.
Georgia State Sen. John Albers said he’s working with the family on new legislation that will make it hazing felony in Georgia as well.
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“We’re going to increase those penalties to make sure people know that if they in any way commit these heinous acts that they’re going to be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” Albers said.
Albers plans to introduce the law into the state Senate next month.
Matthew Naquin was convicted of negligent homicide in Gruver’s death in 2019. He had previously been asked by other fraternity members to tone down interactions with pledges that they said were extreme and dangerous. The LSU chapter of Phi Delta Theta was suspended.
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