COLUMBUS, Ohio — Next week marks three years since a hazing incident led to the death of Bowling Green State University sophomore Stone Foltz on March 7, 2021.
Eight defendants faced criminal charges in Foltz's and one of them — Daylen Dunson, the former president of BGSU's Pi Kappa Alpha chapter — was supposed to be back in court in Columbus for a civil on Thursday.
Foltz, who died at 20 years old, was pledging to the fraternity also known as PIKE when he was forced to drink during a hazing ritual and died from alcohol poisoning three days later.
In the aftermath, BGSU permanently banned PIKE from campus, expelled three students and suspended 18 others. The eight defendants facing criminal charges were all eventually sentenced after two were convicted at trial and five others, Dunson included, pleaded guilty to lesser charges before going to trial.
A judge sentenced Dunson to 21 days in jail, 28 days of house arrest and three years of probation.
While PIKE and the other members agreed to pay a combined $7.2 million, Dunson did not participate, The Foltz family then sued Dunson separately, leading to the civil trial in Franklin County.
While the Foltz family and their lawyers were present in court, Dunson was not. The Foltz family's lawyers said it is not the first time Dunson has skipped a court date.
But the family decided to move forward with the trial regardless, revisiting the painful memories of their son and his passing one more time to send a message that there are serious consequences for hazing in Ohio.
"I just spent as much time as I could with him ... and I made a promise to him that I would never let this happen to any other family or a student," said Shari Foltz, Stone's mother.
That’s the message the Foltz family shared with the magistrate judge Thursday afternoon as she deliberated on potential damages owed by Dunson.
“The toughest thing was watching your other two kids trying to understand what was going on, hearing your kids grieving, and AJ (a sibling of Stone) asking for Stone to wake up," said Cory Foltz, Stone's father.
In May of 2022, Dunson pleaded guilty in a Wood County criminal court to reckless homicide and hazing, but he had ignored multiple summons to appear for hearings in civil court.
"And unsurprisingly, (Dunson is) not here to face the music today. He doesn't care," said Foltz family attorney Jonathon Bond.
The Foltz family is seeking the following in financial restitution from Dunson for a total of $225 million: $33.8 million for Stone’s pain and suffering, $54 million for his wrongful death and $137.5 million for punitive damages.
Foltz’s lawyers called it a message to every present and future college student in the country that hazing comes with a serious punishment in both criminal court and civil court.
Since Stone's death, his family has been hard at work to spread their anti-hazing message by starting the iamstonefoltz Foundation to teach high school and college students to avoid the dangers of hazing.
"After his death, to find out and hear how many mothers have reached out to me about how many sons or daughters they have lost, it just drives you more to push and keep that promise to Stone," Shari Foltz said.
The Foltz family's lawyers have until March 29 to send the full proposal, and the magistrate has as much time as she needs to make her final ruling.