True Crime Society - Madison Brooks – assaulted and left to die

Madison Brooks was a 19 y/o female who died after she was struck by a car in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on January 15, 2023. You can view Madi’s Facebook here.

Madison seemed to have everything going for her. She was an LSU sophomore and was recently accepted into the Manship School of Mass Communication. She was an active member of Alpha Phi Sorority. Madison graduated from Saint Scholastica Academy in 2021, where she was an honor roll student, cheerleader, member of Doves for Life, Spirit Club, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Her family have said that she enjoyed adventures and travel, including: sky-diving, skiing, experiencing new cities, and most importantly spending time with her family and friends. In her obituary, they said Madison’s heart was pure, her laugh infectious, and she lived every day to the fullest.

We will now get into the timeline leading up to Madison’s death.

At 10.06pm on Saturday January 14, Madison can be seen on CCTV entering Reggie’s Bar in Tigerland which is in Baton Rouge.

At 10.18pm, Casen Carver and Kaivon Washington, both 18; Everette Lee, Kaivon’s 28-year-old uncle; and an unidentified 17-year-old are seen arriving at Reggie’s.

“Inside the bar, the victim and Mr. Carsen’s (sic) 17-year-old juvenile friend were seen hugging and dancing,” states a EBRSO affidavit.

The group stayed at Reggies for hours. At 1am, Madison seemed to be intoxicated. She was seen to stand up from a stool to readjust her pants and she “stumble[s] backwards.” “The victim got back on her feet with the help of three individuals,” the document states.

Madison fell over in the bar at 1.34am. The main suspect in this case is the 17 year old who has not been publicly identified. The suspect “removed her baseball cap,” and Madison could be seen “grabbing” the teen’s hand “while getting back on her feet,” the document alleges.

At 1.49am, Madison left the bar with the four males. The group got into a vehicle outside the bar at 1.54am.

At 2.50am, EBRSO Traffic Division received a call about a fatal crash on Burbank Drive. Madison was found laying in the roadway and she had been struck by a vehicle. She was taken to hospital where she died from her injuries.

The person who struck Madison “was not impaired and contacted emergency personnel immediately,” an EBRSO spokesperson said. The driver does not face criminal charges.

At 6.10pm on January 16, Casen Carver went to the Sherrif’s Office. He waived his right to an attorney and agreed to give a statement to police.

Casen told police that he and his friends went to Reggies on Januaty 15. He admitted that they all drank alcohol. He said he saw Madison drinking alcohol at the bar. Casen also said he didn’t know Madison and had never seen her before that night.

Casen said Madison was very intoxicated – he said she was unstable on her feet, was not able to keep her balance and was unable to speak without slurring.

Casen said he saw Madison and the unnamed 17 y/o hugging and walking together. He said Madison asked for a ride home and that he agreed because she was very drunk and he didn’t want to leave her alone.

Casen said he asked Madison where her friends were but that she was ‘drunk’ and didn’t know where they were.

Casen said that Madison got into the vehicle with the males. Casen was driving and he said Madison, the 17 y/o and Kaivon Washington sat in the back. He asked Madison for her address but she apparently fell over (this is the terminology in the affidavit, I assume they mean maybe keeled over?). She didn’t answer him.

This is where it gets even more horrible. The terminology we are using is from the affidavit. Casen said he drove for a short distance before he pulled over. He heard the 17 y/o ask Madison five times if she wanted to have sex with him. His story was that Madison said yes. He said that Madison and the teen then had sex in the rear seats of the car.

He said that Kaivon Washington got out of the car while they had sex. When they were ‘finished’, the 17 y/o got out of the car and Kaivon got back in. Casen said Kaivon asked Madison multiple times if she wanted to have sex and that she again said yes. They then had sex in the rear of the car. Casen has said that he and Kaivon’s uncle remained in the front seat while the sex acts were going on.

Casen said he stated ‘ we got to stop this, let’s go.’ He said that Kaivon and Madison stopped having sex then and put their clothes on.

Casen told police that he felt uncomfortable while the sex acts were going on and that he ‘hated it’. Police asked him if Madison was too impaired to consent to sexual intercourse and he replied ‘ I guess.’

Casen said they then drove around and tried to find where Madi lived, before finally dropping her off in a subdivision.

On January 18, 2023, an autopsy was conducted on Madi. The pathologist reported that she had injuries consistent with anal sexual assault. Her urine had tested positive for THC.

Shane Evans, the chief of investigations for the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office, said that Madison died from “multiple traumatic injuries 2nd motor vehicle collision vs. pedestrian.”

Police got Madi’s medical records from when she was admitted to hospital before she died. Her BAC was .319%. According to University of Notre Dame research, a BAC of between .250 and .399 indicates alcohol poisoning and loss of consciousness.

Police contacted the 17 y/o’s mother on January 21. The mother said that she and the son didn’t want to give a statement. Police also contacted Kaivon Washnigton. He voluntarily waived his right to an attorney and agreed to give a statement.

When Kaivon spoke to police, he said that he was sad about Madison’s death. He also said ‘we were the last people she seen.’ He confirmed to police that he and his group left the bar with Madison. He said he was walking behind her to the car and he laughed and in his mind said ‘how ya’ll meet a random girl and just bring her home?’

Kaivon also admitted that Madison was stumbling and did not have her balance. He said that when they got to their car, Madison attempted to open the door of another random vehicle. He said they had to tell her she was trying to get into the wrong car.

He said he witnessed Madison and the 17 y/o touching each other’s private areas while in the car. He said the 17 y/o had his hand on Madison’s vagina area. He also said that Madison had her hand on the teen’s penis area, over his clothes. He denied witnessing the 17 y/o have sex with Madison and also denied having sex with her himself.

He described Madison’s state of intoxication. ‘Liked when I tell you drunk, drunk, she was drunk.’

Kaivon was asked for an oral DNA swab and it was at this point that he requested an attorney.

On January 23, 2023, Casen, Kaivon and Everette Lee were booked into East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office jail. Casen and Everette were charged with principles to third-degree rape.

Kaivon was charged with third-degree rape, was was the unnamed 17 y/o..

In Louisiana, third-degree rape involves sexual intercourse that “is deemed to be without the lawful consent of a victim,” according to state law.

Attorneys for the suspects have now argued that video showed the victim was not drunk to the point where she was unable to consent to sex. Attorney Ronald Haley, who is representing two of the suspects, says video showed Madison “willfully got into the car,” according to FOX 8.

Absolutely not a rape,” Haley says. “Listen, this is a tragedy, definitely not a crime.”

He acknowledges that Madison did appear intoxicated.

“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,” he says.

Around this time, LSU President William F. Tate IV released a statement in which he said Madison “should not have been taken from us in this way.”

“What happened to her was evil, and our legal system will parcel out justice. Our collective grief and outrage cannot be put into mere words.”

On January 23, the alcohol license for Reggie’s Bar was suspended. The Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control are working with area law enforcement to investigate and share evidence about recent incidents at this business, officials said.

They will hold an emergency hearing next month to decide what penalties if any, should be imposed based on the evidence presented.

Reggie’s issued a statement saying that Madison used a fake ID to get into the bar.

“Even though she entered the bar with false identification, she wasn’t served nor did she consume any drinks at least during the last hour she was at Reggie’s,” the statement read.

“Reggie’s has voluntarily turned over all video surveillance footage to EBRSO and has fully cooperated with EBRSO investigators since they were first contacted and requested to assist on Sunday, January 15.

“Also, Reggie’s has reached out directly to LSU President Tate in response to his call for action and look forward to meeting with him and his team soon to work together to address the issues raised in his recent press release.”

Kris Perret, an attorney for Reggie’s, spoke to the Independent and said that Madi worked at the bar for a month, between 11 June and 11 July last year, as a “door girl” applying wristbands to patrons.

“She was terminated on or about July 11, 2022 after engaging in an altercation with another female employee,” Mr Perret said.

On January 24, 2023, all three adult males appeared in court for a bond hearing. This info about the hearing is from Fox News:

Judge Brad Myers, from the 19th Judicial District, says he personally had viewed footage related to the case, according to local news station WAFB-TV.

Myers says he watched a video of Brooks and the suspects from inside the vehicle, according to the report. Myers said footage, which was allegedly taken by one of the four suspects, depicted the others “callously” laughing at Brooks, who appeared to slur as she spoke, according to the report. The video reportedly did not include the alleged rape.

Myers also says he saw footage that showed Brooks inside Reggie’s earlier in the night as she struggled to stand up and could be seen falling, WAFB reported. The judge reportedly says he believes based on the footage and other evidence that a crime occurred.

Prosecutors announced on this day that they would be seeking to charge the suspects with first-degree rape, though it was not clear if they planned to take the action against all or only some of the males, the outlet reported. Prosecutors are also expected to empanel a grand jury.

Judge Myers orders Kaivon be held on $150,000 bond in connection with the third-degree rape charge. Casen and Everette, charged as principles, are ordered held on $50,000 and $75,000, respectively.

Casen and Everette posted bond on this day and were released. Kaivon posted bond on January 26 and was released. The males all have to wear ankle monitors and remain on house arrest as a condition of their bond. They have also been ordered to not make social media posts about the case and they are not allowed to contact Madison’s family. They must also submit to random drug tests.

The younger member of the group will be held in a juvenile detention centre until his court hearing in February.

On January 27, footage of Madison leaving the bar was made public. She can be seen running across the road outside of the bar.

Attorney Joe Long (this is the attorney representing Casen) said “The evidence we’ve seen so far of Ms Brooks running across the street from Reggie’s undermines the police’s version of events, and until our experts can look at what happened, we believe that the BAC is inaccurate.”

Basically, he is saying that Madison was not as intoxicated as has been reported.