The parents of Madison Brooks, the 19-year-old LSU sophomore who deputies say was raped and then hit by a car and killed in January 2023, are suing the owners and staff of a now-closed Tigerland bar where they say she was served numerous drinks despite being underage.
Reggie's Bar is among nearly 24 defendants who the parents claim played a role in Brooks' death.
Her father, John Brooks, and mother, Ashley Baustert, are suing Darin Adams and John Landry, identified as the owners of聽Reggie's, as well as several managers and bartenders聽who served Madison Brooks alcohol in the hours before her death.
The lawsuit also names the Lyft driver whose car hit her and all four men arrested on rape charges in the aftermath of the tragedy.
'Well known and notorious'
Madison Brooks鈥 parents allege she was issued an 鈥渙ver-21鈥 wristband when she arrived to Reggie鈥檚 just before 10:15 the night of Jan. 14. She remained inside the bar for more than three hours.
By the time she left the bar after 1:20 a.m., she had consumed 24 drinks and had a blood alcohol content of at least .282 鈥斅爉ore than three times the legal driving limit 鈥斅爐he lawsuits state.
The parents allege Reggie鈥檚 owners and bartenders were 鈥渄erelict in their obligations鈥 under Louisiana law to preserve the teen鈥檚 safety. They continued to serve her despite the fact she was visibly intoxicated, to the point that she fell down four times, including once in front of a bartender.
Another time, she slid off a stool near the front door and several employees walked past her as she remained on the ground for about 30 seconds, the suit claims.
鈥淩eggie鈥檚 Bar, for many years, has been well known and notorious for serving alcohol to underage persons,鈥 plaintiff attorney David Courcelle stated in the complaint.
Reggie鈥檚 was a raucous establishment known for 50-cent liquor shots and free entry for underage women, the plaintiffs indicated.
In her filing, Baustert pointed to a 2017 undercover bust at Reggie鈥檚 conducted by the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control where 37 people were arrested for underage drinking. The bar鈥檚 liquor license was suspended for 45 days, and the state fined the owners $8,000.
Both Baustert and John Brooks said it was one of a litany of violations the bar racked up after it opened its Bob Petit Boulevard location in 2004.
State regulators in April shut down Reggie's for good under its old ownership and banned Adams from ever operating another Louisiana business that sells liquor or tobacco.
The suspects and the driver
Casen Carver, Desmond Carter and Kaivon Washington were indicted on a charge of first-degree rape, among other counts, and face mandatory life sentences if convicted of the charge. Everett Lee, who was in the front passenger seat during the incident, was arrested last January on a count of third-degree rape but hasn鈥檛 been charged in court so far.
According to allegations in the four men鈥檚 criminal cases, Carter and Washington sexually assaulted Madison Brooks in the back seat of Carver鈥檚 car, and he recorded multiple videos on his cellphone.
In one of the videos, Madison Brooks is heard yelling "get off," her parents allege in their suit. State prosecutors also have made the claim in the criminal proceedings.
All three charged suspects have pleaded not guilty to their respective charges. Their attorneys argue the sex was consensual, but district attorneys contend Brooks was too intoxicated to give consent.
Deputies say the group drove Brooks to three different locations before she got out of their car near the Pelican Lakes subdivision. She was struck by a passing vehicle on Burbank Drive several minutes later and died in a hospital.
The lawsuit also includes James Brenton Hayward Jr., the 53-year-old Lyft driver who fatally struck their daughter, as well as the ride-share company he was working for at the time. Lyft has been dismissed from the case, lawyers for the company confirmed Friday.
The state sought to prosecute Hayward on criminal charges for the collision, but a grand jury determined in May there wasn鈥檛 enough evidence to indict him for negligent homicide, according to District Court records.
Joe Long, Carver鈥檚 香港六和开奖历史记录 defense lawyer, said Brooks was admitted into Reggie鈥檚 after she passed off someone else鈥檚 ID as her own.
Brooks鈥 parents allege in their suit that Carver, Lee, Washington and Carter let her out of their car in the middle of a dark, busy road in the middle of the night. Long said she asked to get out of the vehicle so she could 鈥淯ber on her own鈥 and was struck after she walked about 350 yards from the point where she was dropped off.
Long also argued East 香港六和开奖历史记录 city-parish officials are at fault for failing to install adequate street lighting on the stretch of Burbank Drive where Brooks was struck, saying it was notorious for pedestrian accidents.
He later took aim at LSU for allowing the culture of underage drinking to flourish at Tigerland bars for more than 25 years even though university officials were well aware of the atmosphere just off campus.
鈥淭he parents of Louisiana students have a solemn covenant with LSU. We will give you our most cherished resources and you will educate them and return them safely back to the cities, towns and villages of Louisiana,鈥 Long said. 鈥淟SU broke faith with the Brooks family by allowing this cancerous culture of underage drinking to endure on the doorsteps of LSU, knowing of the consequences of allowing this criminal behavior to endure.鈥
Neither LSU nor the East 香港六和开奖历史记录 government are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
