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Report: 12 people soon will face charges in Cris Mendez Sigma Rho “beat-in” death

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12 people to face raps over ‘hazing’ victim’s death – report
09/08/2007 | 04:22 PM

Up to 12 people could be slapped with charges next week in relation to the death of Cris Anthony Mendez, who was allegedly a victim of hazing, GMA News Flash Report said on Saturday.

GMA News quoted Chief Inspector Lino Banaag, chief of the homicide section of the Quezon City police, as saying that authorities are now determining whether the suspected killers will be charged of homicide or murder.

Banaag reportedly said Francisco “Nico” Cruz, is among those who will face charges. Cruz is said to be a member of the Sigma Rho Fraternity.

The inspector, however, refused to identify the other suspects, while authorities are studying the appropriate charges that will be filed against the alleged perpetrators.

The report said a female suspect, allegedly a member of the Sigma Rho sorority, will be among those who will be charged.

Mendez, a graduating student of the University of the Philippines was declared dead on arrival at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City last August 27.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

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