SDSU Student Who Died Following Frat Party Succumbed to Head Trauma

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Diego State University freshman who died last week after attending an event at an SDSU fraternity succumbed to head injuries suffered in a dorm-room fall, authorities reported today.

Dylan Hernandez, 19, was taken to Alvarado Hospital on Thursday after campus police were contacted about his need for medical attention at a residence hall in the 6100 block of Montezuma Road, according to the SDSU Police Department.

Hernandez was pronounced dead early Friday evening, according to the Medical Examiner's Office, which determined that accidental blunt-force head trauma was the cause of the teenager's death.

``In the early-morning hours of (Thursday), the decedent fell from his elevated bunkbed to the floor below and was assisted back to bed by a roommate,'' the county agency reported. ``Later (in) the morning ... the decedent was found by a roommate pulseless and apneic (suffering from suspension of breathing) in bed.''

Hernandez reportedly had attended a fraternity function the night before, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.

It remains unclear whether alcohol was a factor in the death of the former Jacksonville, Florida, resident.

Though university officials have yet to release details regarding the circumstances leading up to the fatality, they have launched a web page, sdsu.edu/investigation, which they say will be updated with additional information as it becomes available.

The university suspended all activities by the 14 fraternities that make up its Interfraternity Council on Friday after Hernandez was hospitalized.

The suspension affects more than 1,400 members of the 14 council fraternities, but does not affect the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the College Panhellenic Association or the United Sorority and Fraternity Council or the chapters affiliated with those organizations.

Hernandez, who lived at the Tenochca dormitory, had been pledging Phi Gamma Delta, also known as ``Fiji,'' according to The Daily Aztec newspaper.

Phi Gamma Delta was placed on probation in 2017 ``after being found in violation of regulations pertaining to alcohol at off-campus fraternity events,'' the student publication reported.

At the time of Hernandez's death, six of the fraternities had been suspended for violating SDSU rules, and four were under investigation, according to a SDSU statement.

A friend of the Hernandez family created a fundraising campaign on the website GoFundMe.com Monday to support them. The campaign, which is accepting donations at bit.ly/2CvE0GW, had well exceeded its $1,000 goal by early this evening, having raised just over $30,000.


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