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'Hell Week' Victim's Parents Sue Fraternity

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 15, 2009

The parents of a Tampa teenager who died in North Carolina during a fraternity's "Hell Week" plan to file a civil lawsuit against the Theta Chi fraternity, the students involved in the incident and Lenoir-Rhyne University, according to the family's attorneys.

Harrison Kowiak, 19, a graduate of Tampa's Wharton High School, died Nov. 18 as a result of a severe blow to the head during an off-campus activity with the university's Theta Chi chapter, according to the Catawba County, N.C. sheriff's office.

Theta Chi and Lenoir-Rhyne University "allowed Hell Week activities to take place," and the university has failed to sanction the fraternity or its members, Kowiak's parents, Brian and Lianne, said in a prepared statement released by the family's Miami-based attorneys. The parents say they consider their son's death the direct result of hazing.

The district attorney's office in Catawba County says it will not pursue criminal charges.

"After a full review of the investigative report and the events surrounding the death of Kowiak, the District Attorney's Office finds there is no basis for criminal charges related to his death," the office said Wednesday in a written statement.

The Kowiaks said in their written statement: "As a result of the negligence and carelessness of Theta Chi, its members and Lenoir-Rhyne University, Harrison Kowiak lost his life after suffering a catastrophic brain injury during the hazing event."

Kowiak was hurt about 11 p.m. on Nov. 17 in a pasture along N.C. 127 South, detectives say.

Students drove Kowiak to a hospital, where he died.

Man Spent His Mother's Money

TAMPA - A 71-year-old man who spent his mother's Social Security money on himself and on female companions has been sentenced to two years in federal prison.

Edward McDonald also was fined $5,000 and ordered to serve three years of probation upon his release from prison.

McDonald's mother, Lillie Mae, has dementia and lives in a nursing home, according to court filings. She was unable to manage her affairs, so her son was authorized to receive her Social Security benefits, with the provision he spend the money on her care.

Federal authorities were contacted in 2008 when the bills for Lily Mae McDonald's nursing care were not paid.

A staff report

Explosives Case Arguments Made

JACKSONVILLE - A Tampa federal judge abused his discretion when he threw out as evidence the violent videos that were found on the home computer of an Egyptian University of South Florida student facing federal explosives charges, a prosecutor told an appellate court Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Rhodes argued that the videos of rocket attacks in the Middle East were essential to the government's case against Youssef Samir Megahed in his trial for possessing a destructive device.

Megahed, 22, and Ahmed Mohamed, both Egyptian students at the USF in Tampa, were arrested in August 2007 in South Carolina. Deputies said they found explosives in the car's trunk, but defense attorneys say they were homemade fireworks.

Assistant Public Defender Dionja L. Dyer told the judges the ruling by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday was correct.

Dyer said the prosecution had seized the Megahed family computer and had reviewed its contents and told the defense there was no evidence and they did not plan to use it.

The appeals court panel judges did not say when they would rule.

The Associated Press

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