(To be updated): More of a serious nature. I Started this morning at 4 a.m. to study my theater lines and write. But the death of James Madison University students in a sub-rosa chapter incognito and unsupported by JMU takes full attention. This sad news, if sustained, would mean three more tragedies included in 2023 on the hazing death list. The amount of alcohol served (rushee Josh Mardis), the drunk driving in an official pledge event, the ages and status of the deceased…does meet the definition of hazing. What a nightmare for the families and friends of the dead youth.
By Mason Willett
Published: Jan. 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM AKST|Updated: 14 hours ago
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – Nearly two years since the death of three students at James Madison University in a car wreck in West Virginia, one of the victim’s parents has filed a lawsuit against the JMU chapter of the Pi Beta Chi fraternity.
The lawsuit claims the actions of the fraternity were hazardous and hazing and drug use led to the deadly car crash. Howard Mardis, father of Joshua Mardis, claims in the lawsuit his son died due to the fraternity’s recklessness. Now he is asking for $150 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against the fraternity and 37 of its members.
The lawsuit said Joshua Mardis, a sophomore at JMU, and potential new member of Pi Beta Chi at the time, was participating in the fraternity’s recruitment event on February 2, 2023, at a West Virginia strip club called Paradise City where he was “rendered unconscious from a hazing and alcohol-fueled rush event”. He was then carried into a vehicle driven by a fraternity member, and was left unbuckled. The vehicle later crashed, killing Joshua and two other JMU students John “Luke” Fergusson and Nicholas Troutman, who were already members of the fraternity.
The lawsuit claimed each car going to and from the event was driven by fraternity members who were labeled as designated drivers. All of the cars were loaded with kegs and other alcohol purchased with fraternity funds. Some fraternity members also brought drugs, which included cannabis and “whippets,” or nitrous oxide inhalants.
Fraternity members also purchased half-gallon bottles of liquor for each rushee, who would be compelled, forced, and pressured to consume throughout the night as part of the rush event. The lawsuit also said that the fraternity member who was supposed to drive Joshua had been seen smoking cannabis and doing whippets in the parking lot of the Paradise City before driving Joshua and the other passengers. He was later charged with three counts of negligent homicide.
The Pi Beta Chi fraternity has not been recognized by JMU for several years after earlier results of dangerous hazing misconduct according to the lawsuit in 2013. The fraternity however has continued to operate at JMU “underground” free of oversight while recruiting and growing their fraternity with students from the school.
Howard Mardis now demands a trial by jury with respect to each of the claims alleged in the lawsuit.
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lcohol and whipped cream chargers found in the car that crashed, killing 3 JMU students
According to a fraternity source, 12 to 14 cars filled with fraternity brothers went to the club, and each car had a designated driver who was expected to remain sober and follow the law.
By: Melissa Hipolit
Posted 9:20 AM, Jul 03, 2023 and last updated 9:20 AM, Jul 03, 2023
RICHMOND, Va. — On February 2, 2023, brothers from the Pi Beta Chi fraternity at James Madison University prepared to leave an organized fraternity event at the Paradise City Gentleman’s Club in West Virginia.
According to a fraternity source, 12 to 14 cars filled with fraternity brothers went to the club, and each car had a designated driver who was expected to remain sober and follow the law.
Five of the JMU students got into a black Honda Accord and left the club, located on Route 259, to head back to Harrisonburg just before 10:30 p.m.
According to police, Campbell Fortune, a freshman from Henrico County, was behind the wheel.
On their way back to campus, the car passed a West Virginia Department of Highways employee who told sheriff’s deputies he noticed the car traveling so fast it was a blur. He said the car was crowding the center line so he had to steer away to avoid a collision.
Minutes later, the car crashed head-first into a tree.
The speed at impact, according to investigators, was 95 miles per hour.
Luke Fergusson and Nicholas Troutman, both from Richmond, and Joshua Mardis from Williamsburg, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Joshua Mardis (rushee), John “Luke” Fergusson and Nicholas Troutman (members) .
Provided to WTVR
Joshua Mardis, John “Luke” Fergusson and Nicholas Troutman.
According to records from the Hardy County Sheriff’s Department, deputies noted numerous alcoholic beverage containers within and around the vehicle, along with packaging for whipped cream chargers containing nitrous oxide (NO2).
One of those NO2 canisters was found on the driver’s side dash of the car, as well as a discharging device.
As written by the deputy, “it should be noted that nitrous oxide is a non-controlled intoxicating substance when inhaled.”
Employees at Paradise City found 28 similar canisters inside and outside the business after closing.
When first responders arrived at the scene of the crash, they found Fortune lying beside the vehicle.
When asked what happened, deputies said he responded:
“I don’t know. My life flashed before my eyes and then I woke up just in the car, and then I realized my arm hurt, and I turned around and realized everybody was just, I don’t know.”
Emergency responders transported Fortune to a Winchester Hospital where deputies learned toxicology testing was not performed on him.
In the crash report, deputies checked “driving while impaired” and “driving under the influence of a non-controlled substance” under impairment offenses, but no drug or alcohol tests were ever given to Fortune.
Campbell Fortune faces seven misdemeanor charges, including three counts of negligent homicide, reckless driving with injury, and underage possession of beer.
Fortune’s attorney, John Treadway, said, contrary to what the court documents show, there was a toxicology screen performed at the hospital on Fortune, and it came back negative.
Treadway added the following:
“I think we can show that some of the evidence is different from the criminal complaint, as opposed to what our investigation shows. We have not completely finished our investigation. It’s a very sad incident. This is the process that we have to work through in this case.”
Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for in-depth coverage of this important local story. Anyone with more informat
