Prosecutors: No charges in college student’s death

HICKORY, N.C. — Prosecutors say no criminal charges will be filed after a North Carolina college student died following an off-campus capture the flag game with fraternity members.

The Hickory Daily Record reports the Catawba County District Attorney’s Office said investigators found no basis for criminal charges in the death of 19-year-old Harrison Kowiak of Tampa, Fla. The Lenoir-Rhyne University sophomore died Nov. 18 after suffering a severe blow to the head.

Kowiak’s family released a statement Wednesday accusing the Theta Chi fraternity of hazing. They said they conducted their “own investigation in advance of civil action.”

Telephone calls to the family’s Florida lawyer and to the Catawba County district attorney went unanswered Wednesday evening. A message left at the fraternity’s headquarters in Indianapolis was not immediately returned.

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