When members of the Delta Chi fraternity found Adam Oakes unresponsive the morning of Feb. 27, 2021, they called 911. Video comes from a police officer's body-worn camera.
At 2 a.m., fraternity students at Virginia Commonwealth University began discussing on their phones which pledge was the drunkest. The conversation turned to Adam Oakes, who was left lying on the dining room floor.
In an excerpt of police investigation notes, a Delta Chi pledge, whose identity was concealed by police, said he was “forced” to drink his beverage that night. Another said he felt he could stop whenever he wanted to.
In a screenshot of Richmond Police body cam video, officer Bradley Hirst and detectives Amanda Corchado and Anna Pavlenko investigate the scene of Adam Oakes’ death in 2021.
Courtney White, president of the Love Like Adam Foundation and cousin of Adam Oakes, led a hazing-prevention seminar Tuesday at VCU.
MIKE KROPF
PHOTOS: Vigil for Adam Oakes
Madeleine Arble, a senior at VCU, laid flowers in remembrance of Adam Oakes in Monroe Park, where the memorial started to grow Wednesday afternoon.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
Sofia Nicchitta (left) holds Lila Schandler's hand during a vigil remembering fellow VCU student Adam Oakes, who died last weekend. The vigil was held in Monroe Park on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
People remember Adam Oakes, a VCU student who died last weekend, during a vigil in Monroe Park on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
People remember Adam Oakes, a VCU student who died last weekend, during a vigil in Monroe Park on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
Pictures of Adam Oakes, a VCU student who died after a Delta Chi fraternity party, were displayed at a March 2021 vigil in Monroe Park.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH/
A visitor to a vigil for VCU freshman Adam Oakes in March painted his image and posted it in Monroe Park. Former VCU student Andrew White, one of 11 men charged in Oakes’ death, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors — hazing and serving alcohol to a minor.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH/
People remember Adam Oakes, a VCU student who died last weekend, during a vigil in Monroe Park on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
In a screenshot of Richmond Police body cam video, officer Bradley Hirst and detectives Amanda Corchado and Anna Pavlenko investigate the scene of Adam Oakes’ death in 2021.
In an excerpt of police investigation notes, a Delta Chi pledge, whose identity was concealed by police, said he was “forced” to drink his beverage that night. Another said he felt he could stop whenever he wanted to.
