Two Bottles of Vodka, a Rush Event, and the Death of Colin Martinez at the NAU Delta Tau Delta House in Flagstaff
·AZ·otheradvisoryhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat
On the morning of January 31, 2026, 18-year-old NAU freshman Colin Daniel Martinez was found unresponsive at a residence near Pine Knoll Drive and Lone Tree Road in Flagstaff after attending a Delta Tau Delta fraternity rush event the previous evening. Despite bystander CPR and emergency response, Martinez was pronounced dead at the scene. Police later determined he and three other rush candidates had been coerced into drinking from two shared bottles of vodka intended to induce vomiting. Three Delta Tau Delta executive-board members were arrested on felony hazing charges. NAU placed the chapter on interim suspension; Delta Tau Delta nationals subsequently closed the chapter permanently.
Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
1
Injured
0
Institution
Northern Arizona University
Public R2 · AZ
~27,000 studentsNAU Alert
Confirmed Timeline
Alert Sequence
2 messages in sequence
Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.
NAU statement regarding the death of a student
It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the death of an NAU student earlier today in Flagstaff. We extend our deepest condolences to the student's family, loved ones, and friends. Out of respect for the family's privacy, we are not releasing the student's name at this time pending notification of next of kin.
The Flagstaff Police Department is leading the investigation and we are cooperating fully. The university is aware that the death occurred at an off-campus residence associated with a fraternity rush event. Effective immediately, NAU has placed Delta Tau Delta on interim suspension to allow a thorough investigation to proceed.
Counseling and support are available through NAU Counseling Services for any student, faculty member, or staff member affected by this loss. We ask the NAU community to come together to support one another during this difficult time.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Reconstructed institutional statement consistent with the [NAU Review notice](https://news.nau.edu/student-death/) issued by university communications on January 31, 2026
NAU did not push a campus-wide emergency alert because [the incident occurred at an off-campus residence](https://www.azfamily.com/2026/02/01/northern-arizona-university-student-dies-after-delta-tau-delta-fraternity-rush-event/) and there was no ongoing threat — the Clery emergency-notification standard was therefore not met, even though a student had died
The interim suspension language ('to allow a thorough investigation to proceed') is the [standard institutional posture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Tau_Delta) before formal disciplinary action, and was the same framing NAU used for prior fraternity investigations
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Approximate reconstruction·1009 chars
Lumberjack Community,
We write today to share the name of the student whose death we mourned earlier this week. Colin Daniel Martinez, an 18-year-old NAU freshman, died on Saturday, January 31, after attending an off-campus event associated with Delta Tau Delta. Colin's family has authorized the release of his name and asked that the community remember him.
The Flagstaff Police Department has arrested three members of Delta Tau Delta's executive board on felony hazing charges. NAU has continued the chapter's interim suspension. We are working closely with Delta Tau Delta's national organization, and we will continue to act decisively whenever evidence of hazing emerges on our campus or in our affiliated organizations.
We will also be convening campus-wide conversations on hazing, alcohol culture, and the responsibility we share for one another. These conversations are not optional; the loss of a Lumberjack to hazing demands them.
Counseling Services remains available 24/7 at (928) 523-2261.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Reconstructed follow-up statement consistent with the [name-release and arrest details](https://abcnews.go.com/US/3-arizona-fraternity-leaders-arrested-hazing-charges-death/story?id=129757115) ABC News reported in the days after Martinez's death
The three arrested — Carter Eslick (pledge master), Ryan Creech (vice president), and Riley Cass (treasurer), all 20 — were Delta Tau Delta executive-board members, a fact CBS and Fox News both highlighted
Delta Tau Delta's national organization [voted to close the NAU chapter](https://www.abc15.com/news/region-northern-az/flagstaff/delta-tau-delta-closes-northern-arizona-university-chapter-after-hazing-allegations-student-death) in February 2026, escalating from interim suspension to permanent closure
Context
Background
Northern Arizona University, a 27,000-student public R2 institution in Flagstaff, joined a long and grim lineage of US hazing-death cases on January 31, 2026. According to court filings reported by ABC News, 18-year-old Colin Daniel Martinez and three other rush candidates had attended a Delta Tau Delta fraternity rush event the previous evening at a residence near Pine Knoll Drive and Lone Tree Road. The pledges were coerced into sharing two bottles of vodka, reportedly with the explicit purpose of inducing vomiting; Martinez consumed enough to result in fatal alcohol poisoning. Bystanders began CPR; first responders arrived around 9 AM MST and pronounced him deceased at the scene. NAU's institutional response did not include a campus-wide emergency alert: the incident occurred at an off-campus residence, there was no ongoing threat to the broader campus, and the Clery emergency-notification standard was therefore not met. Instead, the university issued an institutional statement via The NAU Review, placed Delta Tau Delta on interim suspension, and coordinated with Flagstaff Police on the investigation. Three Delta Tau Delta executive-board members — Carter Eslick (pledge master), Ryan Creech (vice president), and Riley Cass (treasurer), all 20 — were arrested on class-4 felony hazing charges under Arizona law. Eslick was later indicted by a grand jury as the pledge master most directly responsible. Delta Tau Delta nationals subsequently closed the chapter permanently. The case is part of a broader 2020s hazing-death pattern that includes Stone Foltz at Bowling Green State (2021), Adam Oakes at Virginia Commonwealth University (2021), and Danny Santulli's incapacitation at Mizzou (2021). The Stop Campus Hazing Act of 2024 — the federal statute that now requires colleges receiving federal funding to track hazing incidents in their annual Clery reports — was signed in part because of this lineage; Martinez's death will appear in NAU's first post-Act ASR.
Analysis
Key Findings
01Hazing deaths at off-campus fraternity residences typically do not trigger campus-wide emergency notifications under Clery — even when a student dies — because the 'immediate ongoing threat' standard is not met by the time the incident comes to light
02Three Delta Tau Delta executive-board members were arrested under Arizona's class-4 hazing-felony statute, which was strengthened in part by recent state-level legislation responsive to the same pattern of fraternity-rush deaths
03Delta Tau Delta nationals escalated from interim suspension to permanent chapter closure — an institutional response that has become more common across the 2020s wave of hazing deaths
04The Martinez death will be among the first hazing fatalities reported under the new Stop Campus Hazing Act of 2024, which requires colleges to disclose hazing incidents in Clery Annual Security Reports starting with the 2026 reporting cycle
Outcome
Colin Martinez (age 18) died of alcohol poisoning; an autopsy found a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.425% — more than five times the legal driving limit. Three Delta Tau Delta members — Carter Eslick (pledge master), Ryan Creech (vice president), and Riley Cass (treasurer), all 20 — were arrested and charged with felony hazing; Eslick was later indicted by a grand jury. Chapter permanently closed.