LSU student fatally hit by a car was raped first, police say

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Four people have been charged in the alleged rape of a Louisiana State University student who authorities say was assaulted, then left in a Baton Rouge sub-division near where she was then struck and killed by a motor vehicle.

Kaivon Washington, 18, and a 17-year-old whose name was withheld because he is a juvenile, were charged with third-degree rape, according to court documents. Under Louisiana law, the charge generally involves a victim who is “incapable of resisting or of understanding the nature of the act by reason of a stupor or abnormal condition of mind produced by an intoxicating agent or any cause and the offender knew or should have known of the victim’s incapacity.”

Everett Lee, 28, and Casen Carver, 18, were both charged with principle to third-degree rape, meaning they were present but did not take part in the alleged crime.

All four of the accused turned themselves in in recent days, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said. It was unclear if any of them had attorneys as of Tuesday.

According to the arrest warrant, the 19-year-old victim in the case was at a bar in the Tigerland entertainment district on Jan. 15 when she met the 17-year-old now accused of sexually assaulting her. Police say the woman left with him and the three men.

The woman — who Carver said in an affidavit was unstable on her feet, unable to keep her balance and slurring her words — asked for a ride home. Deputies allege that Washington and the 17-year-old raped the victim while Carver and Lee sat in the front of the car. When asked by police if the woman was too impaired to consent to sex, Carver responded, “I guess.”

The victim had a blood-alcohol level that the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says can result in loss of consciousness.

Around 3 a.m., about 50 minutes after Carver said they dropped the victim off in a sub-division, she was standing on the street when she was struck by a ride-share vehicle. She died at a hospital.

“By all accounts, she was an amazing young woman with limitless potential,” LSU President William Tate IV said in a written statement Monday. “What happened to her was evil.” University officials planned to meet with business owners near campus to “discuss how their responsibilities directly impact the safety of our students,” Tate said.

The driver — who police say was not impaired, contacted emergency personnel and remained at the crash scene — was not charged.