AUSTIN, Texas — The parents of an 18-year-old University of Texas at Austin student have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a fraternity, claiming that months of "horrific hazing" drove their son to a psychological crisis that ended in his death by suicide in January 2024.

According to a press release from the family's counsel, Sawyer Lee Updike's family is suing the Alpha Nu chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

The lawsuit alleges that fraternity members targeted Updike in several ways in 2023, including spearing him with a fishhook during an alcohol-related event, piercing his hip with a staple gun, burning him with lit cigarettes, physically whipping and beating him, and forcing cocaine into his nose. Updike also reportedly received threats that his girlfriend would be sexually

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