Final two Bowling Green fraternity brothers sentenced in Stone Foltz's hazing death
The final two Bowling Green State University fraternity brothers convicted of hazing Stone Foltz were sentenced Wednesday by Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
Jacob Krinn, 21, of Delaware, and Troy Henricksen, 24, of Grove City, stood trial in Wood County Common Pleas Court in May, and were convicted by a jury:
Krinn was found guilty of hazing, failure to comply with underage alcohol laws and obstructing official business, all misdemeanors.
Henricksen was found guilty of eight counts of hazing and seven counts of failure to comply with underage alcohol laws, all misdemeanors.
Krinn and Henricksen were both sentenced to serve 42 days in jail. Krinn was immediately taken to jail after his sentencing Wednesday, and Henricksen was taken later that afternoon by his attorney.
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After serving their sentences, both men will be placed on community control and be required to take a mental health assessment, find jobs and complete 100 hours of community service.
Attorneys for Krinn and Henricksen asked Kuhlman to waive their clients' jail time, arguing that neither of them have a prior criminal records and both were compliant with the terms of their pretrial release. The attorneys added their clients are guilty of misdemeanors, having been found not guilty of more-serious charges they were previously facing during their trial in May.
Wood County Prosecutor Paul Dobson argued that Krinn and Henricksen each played a role in causing Foltz’s death. Foltz, a 20-year-old sophomore from Delaware, was rushing the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity in early 2021. The fraternity was better known as PIKE on campus. As part of the pledging process, Foltz attended a "Big Little Night" initiation event March 4, 2021, during which he drank a liter of Evan Williams Bourbon. He died several days later of alcohol intoxication.
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Krinn, who acted as Foltz's "Big Brother" in the fraternity, pressured him to drink the liquor as part of his initiation, which Dobson said directly resulted in Foltz being taken to the hospital and being placed on life support. Krinn later lied to the police when they were investigating Foltz's death.
Henricksen was PIKE's pledge educator during Foltz's pledging process. As part of his role, Henricksen was in charge of PIKE’s new member orientation process and safety. Dobson said that even though Henricksen didn't attend the Big Little event, he still knew that the pledges would be hazed and he didn’t warn them. Henricksen had also previously organized similar events and went through the exact same process when he was a pledge a few years earlier.
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Both Krinn and Henricksen also attended hazing prevention workshops as part of their involvement in Greek life through BGSU, Dobson said, and still chose to engage in hazing.
Kuhlman agreed that Krinn was the best person to look out for Foltz given then nature of their relationship but ultimately did not. Kuhlman said the Henricksen appeared “clueless” as to his role in Foltz's death and what taking responsibility and being a leader is supposed to mean.
State investigators also shared with Kuhlman that Henricksen was found using a photo of himself in court on his Hinge dating profile. Kuhlman shook his head.
Foltz's parents, Shari and Cory, said after Wednesday's sentencing hearing that Krinn and Henricksen now have to face the consequences of their actions. They also laid blame on BGSU, which they are currently suing for responsibility for their son's death.
“What they did was cruel, senseless, and destructive — to their lives and ours — and it wasn’t done in secret," they said. "Bowling Green State University leaders knew the PIKE chapter hazed its pledges and did nothing to stop it. We demand accountability, not just for Stone, but for every parent across the country who is dropping off their child at college. We naively believed University leaders would live up to their legal obligations by protecting our son from harm."
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Rex Elliott and Sean Alto, the Foltzes' attorneys, said all of the men charged related to Foltz's death, while still responsible for their actions, "were acting within a system created for them by adults, and only adults can eradicate hazing for good."
"This means principally the Universities that harbor these organizations on their campuses," they said. "Until Universities start actively enforcing policies that prevent hazing on their campuses, more young lives will regrettably be lost.”
In late June, another BGSU fraternity brother – Canyon Caldwell, 22, of Dublin – was also sentenced for his role in Foltz's death. He was sentenced to serve a week in jail, 28 days of house arrest and two years of probation. He has previously pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and eight counts of hazing.
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Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for her Mobile Newsroom newsletter here and her education newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Stone Foltz hazing death: Final BGSU fraternity brothers sentenced
