STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Four New York City men and the fraternity they belonged to face sentencing in the death of a 19-year-old pledge during a 2013 hazing ritual in Pennsylvania.
FILE – In this May 15, 2017, file photo, Kenny Kwan, center, leaves the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pa. Kwan is one of four men from the New York City borough of Queens who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the 2013 death of Chun “Michael” Deng, a fraternity pledge from the Baruch College campus of the City University of New York, at a rented house in the Pocono Mountains. The four are set to be sentenced Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, along with the Pi Delta Psi fraternity itself, which was convicted after a trial. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz, File)
Baruch College freshman Chun “Michael” Deng was blindfolded, forced to wear a heavy backpack and then repeatedly tackled. He was knocked unconscious and later died at a hospital.
Police charged 37 people.
The four defendants to be sentenced Monday pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and face jail time. Their fraternity, Pi Delta Psi, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter following a trial. Prosecutors are seeking a fine for the fraternity and a 20-year ban from Pennsylvania.
Deng’s mother prepared a statement to be read at the sentencing. Mary Deng wrote the pain feels like “a cat clawing and scratching” at her heart.
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