Southern University hazing incident: Student’s death a homicide

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — The East Baton Rouge Coroner’s office has ruled Caleb Wilson’s death a homicide. The 20-year-old Southern University student lost his life during a hazing-related incident.

The cause of his death was commotio cordis due to blunt force trauma to the chest.

Commotio cordis is a rare cardiac phenomenon. According to Dr. Taher Tayeb, a cardiologist with Ochsner LSU Health, only a handful of cases are recorded in the United States per year.

“It’s pretty rare, there are about 20 to 30 annual incidences that are at least being reported and that are recognized or contributing to it,” he says.

After the top part of the heart produces a beat, known as the sinus rhythm, the bottom part of the heart contracts. There is a small window when the bottom part of the heart relaxes before another beat. That window is when commotio cordis can happen.

“Right as it starts, when you have that blunt force trauma, it kind of disrupts the sodium potassium channels from activating and causes degeneration into the ventricular fibrillation, which is the cardiac arrest,” Tayeb explains.

Commotio cordis is most commonly seen in sports-related injuries. It is what caused Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest in 2023.

Doctor Tayeb explains how, as you get older, the risk of commotio cordis lowers even more.

“Now, the older we get, one of the reasons why is when you have a thin chest wall, that can be one of the reasons why you’re more susceptible to it. But as we get older, our chest walls become a little bit thicker, so that kind of prevents it from occurring,” he says.