Madison Brooks death: Louisiana teen linked to LSU tragedy to be tried as adult on more severe rape charge

The underage suspect in Louisiana State University sophomore Madison Brooks' alleged rape will be tried as an adult after a grand jury indicted him on Louisiana's most severe sexual assault charge.

Desmond Carter, whose name had been withheld until Wednesday's grand jury hearing because he was 17, was indicted on first-degree rape, which is punishable by life in prison without parole, as well as third-degree rape. 

Another suspect in the case, 18-year-old Kaivon Washington, was also charged with third-degree rape, which in Louisiana involves sexual intercourse that "is deemed to be without the lawful consent of a victim," according to state law.

The other two suspects – Casen Carver, 18, and Everett Lee, 28 – were charged with principal to third-degree rape for allegedly sitting in the front of the car while Brooks was sexually assaulted by Washington and Carter in the back seat after a night of drinking.

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The district attorney has discussed upgrading charges against the other suspects as more evidence is presented to the grand jury, but DA Hillar Moore's office didn't immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment on Thursday. 

Kerry Miller, the Louisiana attorney representing Brooks’ mother, Ashley Baustert, told Fox News Digital in an email that Baustert "is pleased with this development."

"She's thankful to the hard work put in by all members of the law enforcement team who gathered and presented evidence to the grand jury," Miller said. 

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Brooks, a 19-year-old LSU student, met her alleged attackers while drinking at Reggie's bar before she was allegedly raped and let out on the side of a busy highway near her home, where she was fatally struck by a car in the early morning hours of Jan. 15. 

Brooks' death cast a spotlight on LSU's history of mishandling sexual assaults and rapes as well as increased crime in the college town's social hotspot, Tigerland, and the city of Baton Rouge.

She was laid to rest on Feb. 3 in Covington, Louisiana.

"My beautiful angel, one and only daughter, and best friend that was taken way too soon. I promise to honor you, your legacy and will do everything in my power to ensure no other family has to endure the pain we have faced," Baustert wrote in a Facebook post. 

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Meanwhile, attorneys representing the suspects, including lawyer Ron Haley, said during a press conference that sex was consensual, and Haley reiterated his past arguments that a short video of Brooks leaving Reggie's bar reflects the suspects’ innocence.

"The two defendants who engaged in consensual sexual acts with Ms. Brooks did so after obtaining verbal consent," Haley said, according to WVUE-TV. "Ms. Brooks left the car on her own volition, saying she would get an Uber. She is seen on video leaving the car, unharmed and in good health. This will be confirmed by video at a later date."

Joe Long, who represents another one of the suspects, went further, telling reporters, "If Ms. Brooks was alive, this would not be a crime."

"She would not have complained about it at all," Long said during a press conference. "The only reason it’s there is because the understandable anger in the community wants someone to pay for her death. And we understand that, but our clients did not do that."

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Miller said he was "blown away" by those claims and said Brooks' family plans to "set the record straight."

"She was raped. Rape is rape," Miller told Fox News Digital in a previous interview. "It’s just a horrific, terrible situation. And to the extent that those involved with the alleged rapist want to blame the victim and show up at press conferences and say things … we're standing up for Maddie. That's not right."

He added, "She was a victim of a horrific rape, which led to her death."

Washington has been arrested two more times in connection with alleged rapes in Livingston Parish in 2020 and the same area of East Baton Rouge in October 2022. 

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In 2020, he was 16 and his alleged victim was 12, according to court documents, and the more recent rape accusation nearly mimicked the circumstances in Brooks' alleged rape. 

Like Brooks, the victim in the October 2022 incident drank at Reggie's and met Washington and another man, who was referred to in court documents as her "acquaintance," 18-year-old Karson Jones. 

The October victim, whose age was not identified in court records, was too drunk to drive, so Jones and Washington allegedly drove her from the bar to Jones' home, where both men allegedly sexually assaulted her and force-fed her alcohol when she asked for water, according to the arrest warrant obtained by Fox News Digital.

The victim in the alleged October 2022 rape reported the crime on Jan. 25, which was one day after Washington and three other men were arrested in connection with Brooks' alleged rape.

While the case involving Brooks and the October 2022 victim will be separate, the two cases will have an impact on each other, as will the Livingston Parish case, Miller said. 

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He said the October 2022 case might proceed faster because that complainant is alive and will "carry about 80 percent" of the evidence, versus Brooks' case, where prosecutors have to piece together what happened without Brooks. 

"It's like prosecuting a murder with no body," Miller said.