Several fraternity members dropped from lawsuit over member’s death

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The family of Riley Strain has removed several people from the wrongful death lawsuit they filed after he died on a group trip to Nashville, Tennessee.

The lawsuit was filed in March against the Delta Chi fraternity and its members. In a court filing Tuesday, his family dismissed claims against nine fraternity members. 

The lawsuit alleges that the MU chapter of the fraternity violated its rules during the trip for a fraternity "formal" event. Strain went missing on March 8, 2024, after being kicked out of Luke's Bridge 32 bar on Broadway and 3rd Avenue just before 10 p.m. Police found his body in the Cumberland River on March 22, 2024.

A toxicology report showed Strain had alcohol and other substances in his system. His death was ruled a drowning with alcohol as a contributing factor.

The lawsuit says fraternity policies were supposed to prohibit access by non-members to events where alcohol is served and bar the use of hard liquor at those events.

"It was well-known that at each of these social events, including on the charter bus traveling to the formal, there was prolific consumption of alcohol, much of it above 15% ABV, most, if not all, of that alcohol was provided by Delta Chi or its members," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also claimed Strain's fraternity brothers did not accompany him back to the hotel when he was kicked out of a bar and didn't check on him until later.

"By the time the group reached the final bar of the night, Riley was virtually incoherent," the lawsuit states. "He was leaning against walls to stay upright, stumbling up and down steps, was completely unable to speak or communicate, and needed help."

Since the lawsuit's filing, multiple people and the fraternity have asked Judge Josh Devine to dismiss the case. Devine set a hearing for August 12 in Boone County to discuss the case.