A sixth defendant charged in the hazing death of Bowling Green State University student Stone Foltz has taken a plea deal.
Wood County Prosecutor Attorney Paul Dobson announced that Daylen Dunson, 22, Cleveland, appeared before Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman Thursday and pleaded guilty to several charges.
They include reckless homicide, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, obstructing official business, eight counts of misdemeanor hazing and seven counts regarding providing alcohol to underage persons.
The reckless homicide charge was an amendment from involuntary manslaughter and both are felonies of the third degree, carrying a maximum penalty of three years in prison. This was the only amendment made to the indictment as part of the plea agreement, Dobson said in a press release.
Tampering with evidence is a third-degree felony and carries the same penalty as the homicide offenses.
Unrelated to the plea agreement, the obstructing justice charge had previously been amended from a third-degree felony to a fifth-degree felony with a maximum penalty of one year in prison.
The hazing charges are misdemeanors of the fourth degree, carrying maximum penalties of 30 days in jail each. The providing alcohol to underage charges are unclassified misdemeanors, carrying maximum penalties of six months in jail and a $500 to $1,000 fine each.
Dobson said Dunson was the president of the BGSU chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha in the spring of 2021, when Foltz was rushing the fraternity, along with several others, most of whom were under the legal drinking age. He attended the hazing event as president, talking to the new members, taking part in photographs, and lending the approval of his position to what was happening.
After Foltz was rushed to the hospital later that night, police began investigating.
According to Dobson, when the police interviewed Dunson, he provided false information about his whereabouts and whether a fraternity event had happened that night. He also told others to lie about the existence of the event. He deleted social media pages and told others to do the same in an attempt to get rid of evidence before police could find it, Dobson said.
“We have always considered Daylen Dunson to be one of the key players in allowing this event to happen and was, therefore, complicit in Stone’s death. Having Mr. Dunson finally accept responsibility for his part in this tragedy should come as a welcome relief to many,” Dobson said.
“It also demonstrates the reason why the university spends so much time educating the officers of Greek organizations on the dangers and wrongfulness of hazing. They are in the ones in the best position to stop it and will be held accountable when they don’t,” he said.
Foltz died March 7, three days after consuming a liter of alcohol at the off-campus party.
The Foltz family released a statement.
“We continue to be grateful for Mr. Dobson and his team. We are relying on the judicial system to hold these men accountable for their actions. Having six of the eight men charged plead guilty is a start. Hazing is deadly and we lost our 20-year-old son to these senseless acts.”
Two co-defendants remain in the case. Jacob Krinn and Troy Henricksen are scheduled to go to trial before Kuhlman starting May 16.
