Coroner says fraternity member died of alcohol overdose

GO FUND ME

UC Irving student Noah Domingo died Jan. 12.

A Filipino American freshman at the University of California, Irving, died from "accidental acute ethanol poisoning," authorities announced March 12.

Noah Domingo, 18, had a blood alcohol level of approximately 0.331 when he died around 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 12, according to a statement from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities did not receive a 911 for another six hours and responded to the home around 9:30 a.m.

The 911 caller told the operator, “Someone is not breathing. They’re not OK,” the caller tells the 911 dispatcher. “Their whole body is like blue right now.”

The caller said Domingo “just drank too much.”

However, Noah Domingo's father, Dale Domingo of La Crescenta, believes that his son died during a Sigma Alpha Epsilon “big brother night” hazing ritual.

“We have discovered the horrifying truth about fraternity hazing,” he told CBS News. “Noah was compelled to guzzle a so-called ‘family drink’ to become part of his big brother’s family. It is why fraternities openly refer to this type of ritual as being one of the deadly nights.”

Authorities were not as quick to call Noah Domingo's death was caused by hazing. “The Irvine Police Department is actively investigating this case. At the conclusion of our investigation we will present our findings to the District Attorney’s Office, which will determine whether charges are warranted,” Lt. Mark Anderson said in a prepared statement.

Meanwhile, UC Irvine placed the fraternity on interim suspension pending the investigation. The fraternity’s national organization has since closed the university’s chapter indefinitely according to a statement released by the school.

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UC Irvine fraternity suspended after student's death

NOAH DOMINGO

ASAM NEWS

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE is investigating the death of a freshman student, following the suspension of his fraternity, Los Angeles Times reports.
Noah Domingo, 18, died after an off-campus party early Saturday (Jan. 12). UC Irvine says it cannot release details about Domingo’s death because of the investigation. Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the fraternity to which Domingo belonged and the fraternity hosting the party he attended Friday night, was suspended and ordered to cease all activities immediately.

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The official cause of Domingo’s death is not yet known. The Orange County coroner’s office is conducting an autopsy and preparing a toxicology report to determine the cause of his death. Dale Domingo, Noah’s father, says officials have not told him how his son died.

According to fellow fraternity member Ryan Lee, Domingo attended a party at the house of a fraternity brother on Friday night. Lee left the party, but Domingo stayed. Police found Domingo the next morning, around 9:30 a.m., in a bed in a house in the Turtle Rock Neighborhood.

Friends and family describe the Filipino American student as smart, athletic young man who tended to avoid alcohol and drugs. Paul Schilling, who was Domingo’s high school football coach for four years, said the typical portrayals of fraternity life didn’t seem to fit Domingo.

“Noah wasn’t one of those kids,” Schilling told the Los Angeles Times. “He didn’t have time to be messing around.”

Domingo played both basketball and football. The youngest of three children, he followed his older sister Briana (20) to UC Irvine in the fall. His sister says last week he was working hard to get ahead on his second quarter course work. His dream was to pursue a career in sports medicine for basketball players.

A GoFundMe campaign has been established to offset funeral expenses for the family of Noah Domingo has exceeded its goal of $10,000

The school declined to release further details but Edgar J. Dormitorio, interim vice chancellor for student affairs, wrote in an email sent to all students that it would "closely examine the larger context in which this tragedy occurred and will be working with the Greek community to help ensure that they are engaging in behaviors and practices that are in alignment with university policies and their own values."

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

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