(footsteps).

OFFICER: You got his name?

MAN: They said his name is Adam Oakes.

OFFICER: Uh, I got a young male born in 1999 I think it was.

He doesn’t live here.

He’s a student at VCU.

Got four guys here.

I guess they were partying last night.

They saw him about 12:30 last night, came back down this morning around about 9:17.

He was unresponsive.

OFFICER: Did you see the vomit right by the fence?

OFFICER 2: Yeah, yes.

♪ ♪ OFFICER 2: They say he was on his side.

See the blood that’s on there.

OFFICER: It could have been anything.

It could have been the alcohol, it could have been just the fact that he passed out and that was it, hit his face, and then took a dive.

OFFICER 3: Was he intoxicated last night?

STUDENT: Uh, yeah.

OFFICER 4: Jack and Coke, a possible... DETECTIVE: Are they... big brothers?

DETECTIVE 2: Big brother – he gonna find out who he was: Andrew White.

OFFICER: So he’d been in the frat too?

DETECTIVE 2: He wasn’t yet.

He wanted to be.

OFFICER: Interesting.

OFFICER: He wants to be.

He was a pledge.

DETECTIVE: You think it was some form of- DETECTIVE 2: That’s what I was trying to get at.

OFFICER: Yeah, that’s right.

OFFICER: Based off what you're saying about this cat that was here that wasn't here...

Sounds like there was a little bit of a hazing, maybe went awry.

But you guys are the detectives.

CAMERAMAN: Cut the camera?

♪ ♪ SHAWN: Tonight a Virginia family is searching for answers.

SAM: The Richmond Police Department says it has no updates in an ongoing investigation.

REPORTER: Police found the 19-year-old VCU student unresponsive.

FELICIA: Adam Oakes was excited to find out he was invited to join Delta Chi fraternity.

Now the 19-year-old student is dead.

Adam was offered a bid to join Delta Chi.

He had to go to a party on Friday night to start the initiation process.

REPORTER: An initiation party they suspect involved hazing and alcohol.

CHIP: Oakes was told to drink an entire bottle of whiskey.

REPORTER: Adam passed out at the fraternity house and was discovered dead there Saturday morning.

COURTNEY: They flipped him over and half his face was normal and then the other half was purple.

REPORTER: Adam Oakes’ heartbroken family says they will not let grief stop them from demanding answers.

ERIC: We deserve answers, Adam deserves answers.

♪ ♪ ERIC: Adam was super happy, he was always, you know, joking around, having fun.

LINDA: The last time I picked him up there, he gave me a hug that was life-changing.

I looked at him, I was like, “That’s the best hug I’ve ever had in my life” and he just said, “I know, right?” COURTNEY: Even for an 18-year-old kid, he was so good to his little cousins.

I mean, my kids looked up to him so much, and he loved being around them.

ADAM: One was when he was in pee wee football and he tackled a boy and the boy was hurt, Adam came running out and I was in the stands, I came down and I said, “What was wrong?

Wh, what happened?” He said, “Daddy, that was my friend and I hurt him and I was telling him I was sorry.” ♪ ♪ ANDREW: I walk into the house and Adam was already there, very first time I saw him I looked at, first thing I ever said to him too, was you know, this guy, I like this guy, you know?

JASON: Adam was very, very outgoing, very, very funny, just always had that smile on his face at all times.

BEN: He’s very easy to talk to, very easy to be friendly with like always talking about sports, always talking something that like gauges your attention.

CHRISTIAN: I knew Adam to be like a really nice guy just from, from how I always saw him smiling.

ANDREW: I would always tell the guys, if anyone gets a bid, it needs to be him.

On the way to my house, I stopped by the liquor store, I bought a regular bottle of Jack Daniels and then I bought a bigger one.

CHRISTIAN: Early evening, the kids are all at a house, essentially taking their vow to the fraternity and they wait up in a bedroom to be brought down one by one on the staircase to meet their big brother, which is the “Big-Little Ceremony” with all the brothers lining at the bottom of the staircase and then one brother on the staircase announcing, “And next up is, Adam Oates and his big is Andrew White!” And then everybody starts cheering and Andrew would have a drink and the idea of that is that you chug the drink.

ANDREW: After that, I gifted him the bottle that I bought for him, and then I explained to him how, when I was in his position, you know, I finished mine.

CHRISTIAN: Even though you’re not telling him to down this bottle, like, it’s understood that people are gonna get drunk.

Even if there’s not malicious intent, like, it’s, it’s, it’s the riskiest night of the semester.

COURTNEY: And Jason kinda had, like, a pep talk with him and was like, “The intention of tonight is to as (bleep) up as you possibly can.” ANDREW: And so, made his first cup.

It was straight liquor and pulled it back like it was water.

COURTNEY: Adam finished the bottle, in which case he was intoxicated.

But so were all the other boys.

ANDREW: I was, uh, kind of relieved that he finished it so fast and so I was like, “Okay, dude.

Congrats” Like, “You finished it.

Now it’s time to throw up.” And so, we went outside, I "pulled trigg" After I did he felt comfortable, so he put his fingers in his mouth and made himself throw up.

And so after that happened, my guard went completely down.

I thought everything was okay, I thought everything would be fine.

COURTNEY: A lot of the big brothers took the little brothers to their houses to watch over them, but Adams didn’t.

ANDREW: So, after “X” amount of time goes by I’m looking and around and I’m like, “Where is he?” And, uh, that’s when I see him back out on the balcony and he’s kind of leaned over it like he’s throwing up again.

So, I was going out to check on him and then I saw his legs start to buckle.

JASON: And that’s the first when I noticed that he was very drunk.

ANDREW: And so that’s when I waved up a bunch of guys.

We helped him inside, found a spot on the floor, we gave him a pillow, laid him down.

JASON: We all scrambled around to get a pillow, blanket, and a bottle of water and help to put him down on the ground.

ANDREW: And then, like, he fell asleep, you know, within a few minutes.

JASON: I remember telling myself in the back of my head just to watch him and see if he needs anything and, you know, don’t leave the room.

BEN: I could tell he was, he was very drunk but at the time, like, I didn’t think much of it because I just thought, “Okay, maybe he needs water, maybe he’s gonna sleep it off, or something.” COURTNEY: And then I think that Andrew stayed with Adam for a little bit, but then thought Adam was fine and also thought he heard Adam snoring, but Adam didn’t snore and that’s why I think that Adam was starting to die then.

ANDREW: I’m checking on him throughout the night and saw no problems, you know, I honestly didn’t have a worry in the world.

I thought everything was gonna be fine.

So, I went around the room.

I’m like, “Hey guys.

He’s fine, right?

He looks fine.” So, I left and I completely just expected to wake up the next morning, bring him a Gatorade or something, and take him out to brunch.

And then when I woke up at like 9:00 am, that’s when I found out.

JASON: One of the brothers that lived in the house saw me and I just froze for a second and didn’t really quite grasp what was going on.

ANDREW: In the group chat, guys were saying, you know, “Oh, my God, Adam’s dead, Adam’s dead.” And, you know, I’m thinking, I’m thinking they’re (bleep) with me.

You know, people say ‘dead passed out drunk’ or ‘he’s dead’.

I’m like, “Oh, he’s dead asleep” you know what I mean?

But then it started to get a little more serious.

Like, “No, he’s (bleep) dead.” Like, “He’s not waking up.” ERIC: I was actually, you know, watching TV and, um, Linda was asleep and I heard a bang on the door and I looked through the Ring and it happened to be three Loudon County Sheriffs and I can remember walking down the hall in the house to get Linda.

I just felt something was really, really wrong.

LINDA: Immediately I was in denial.

I was like, “Whatever.

Tell me why you’re really here” Eric was immediately like, “No!” Just screaming no.

ERIC: I just felt like, something came in and ripped my heart out.

You know, just knowing that your only child, the one that you’d cared for, the one that you prayed for, for many years was gone.

COURTNEY: Adam never did anything without Linda and Linda never did anything without Adam.

It just wasn’t.

I mean, sometimes Linda would go and check Adam out of school just because she missed him.

LINDA: I used to stay up cause Adam was the only child and he didn’t have any siblings to play with.

So, I’m the one playing “Call of Duty” and we’d stay up all night, like, ‘till 4:00 in the morning.

And then, when he got older, he was going out with his friends and then he would call me at 4:00 in the morning to come get him.

(sighs).

I miss those phone calls at 4:00 in the morning.

ERIC: My dad was actually, uh, he had stage four cancer and I had to go over and break the news to him that his grandson died and... It’s one of the hardest things to do because you know he loved Adam a lot.

COURTNEY: It was hard to pick up the pillow he slept on.

It was hard to see the place where he lived.

He still had packages that were mailed to him from my grandma that he’ll never open.

ERIC: Planning your own child’s funeral is the worst.

It’s just the worst feeling you could have as a parent, as a person.

COURTNEY: We sat in the living room and really we just cried.

And then a couple of his friends started to talk about memories and started to talk about, you know, good stuff, um, but then eventually that good stuff turns to anger.

Like, “Why did this happen?

What happened?” Because a 19-year-old kid isn’t just found dead.

ERIC: The only thing that they told me was that, "Your son has passed and alcohol was a factor and we don’t detect any foul play at this time."

I’m like, “What the hell does that mean?” ALISON: I’m Alison Martin, I was the prosecutor who handled the case involving Adam Oakes.

The fraternity, the local ritual was that you chugged that first family drink with your big brother.

Adam’s turn comes up, he’s matched with Andrew White.

Andrew White, importantly, hands him a handle of whiskey and the reason that’s important is because we’ve got a handle, which is bigger than the bottles that everyone else is getting, and because it’s dark alcohol, that’s a killer.

His alcohol level at the time of death was probably in excess of .40.

He didn’t have a chance.

He might have had a chance if someone had realized hours earlier.

ERIC: There were three or possibly four 911 calls for noise disturbance and the police never responded.

At any point had they knocked on the door and asked them to stop, you know, or if they’d have come inside, they’d have seen Adam needing help and would have immediately called an ambulance and got him help and he’d still be alive today.

JASON: You know, as soon as I hung up it seriously felt like a nightmare.

It seriously felt like it wasn’t real.

And, um, it felt like any moment I was just going to wake back up again and everything would be fine.

ANDREW: Kind of crippling anxiety that it felt like a weight, an anchor, was on top of my chest.

CHRISTIAN: I was shocked, confused, like, went into a panic attack.

My roommate just knocks on my condo door and says, “Hey, dude, like, the cops are here.” ANDREW: My mom’s calling me and she’s hysterical, she’s crying and, uh, she said police came to the house, that they surrounded the house, and, uh, that they’d said that I needed to go to jail.

JASON: So, you know, I put some shoes on, I walk over there and they asked me if I’m Jason and I said, “Yes” and they told me to step outside and immediately throw cuffs on me.

BEN: And they basically, like, set it up to pick all of us up at the same time.

I didn’t know what to think, it was just, it was a huge shock for me.

CHRISTIAN: At first, I have no idea why they’re in there.

And then I’m like, “Officer” like, like, “What is this, why am I being arrested?” And then he finally was like, “Hazing misdemeanor” like, “Use your imagination.” JASON: I wanted to be in law enforcement.

I even thought about being a police officer and just seeing them handcuff me and throw me into a van...

It was, um, I mean, to use the word terrifying is an understatement.

ANDREW: When I got to the jail, usually, you know, when you get misdemeanor charges you can post bail if it’s something light.

Um, but, I was denied bond.

JASON: Because we were denied bond we couldn’t see the judge, so we ended up staying Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and most of Monday.

I was just awful.

I mean, you’re, I was locked in a cell that only had a bed and toilet.

I remember laying there in bed, in an orange jumpsuit, thinking this is really happening.

CHRISTIAN: I called my parents and then I walked into the courtroom Monday morning and my parents saw me wearing a jumpsuit.

JASON: The minute I got the opportunity to get a phone call I called my mom.

It was hard to explain what was going on, um... CHRISTIAN: I felt like I let my parents down.

ANDREW: Felt like a disappointment.

I felt like, um, like I’m just like a (bleep) up.

JASON: It was a total nightmare.

ANDREW: I wasn’t scared.

I knew it was coming.

Um, in a way, I felt like I deserved it.

You know, I walked straight into court, pled guilty to both charges cause there's just, there’s no other alternative.

You know, I was guilty.

I provided him the bottle, you know, I hazed him by having him drink it and to put the family through some sort of trial is just unfathomable to me.

To relive that, um, so it just, it was, it was something that I had to do.

JASON: I had to look them in the eye and tell them that I'm sorry that I couldn't have...

Sorry, I didn't do anything.

I'm sorry that, you know...

I was there, I was the president and I didn't do anything about it.

CHRISTIAN: To any kid who is watching this, this really could be you.

Like, this could have been me.

This could be your best friend, um, this could be some guy in your class who you don’t even know that well but this could be anybody.

No one is safe from the dangers of excessive drinking and of hazing.

ANDREW: You see a lot of incidents about hazing where it’s like, you know, the guy falls over and hits his head or he’s barfing all night, or something, you know, something rather obvious.

He’s blue in the face, you know.

But with Adam, you know, I just didn’t notice any of that and so I think it’s important for people to know that it, you know, sometimes, like, it’ll seem like it’s fine.

Like, you’ll see someone just sleeping, you know?

But then they don’t wake up.

Whenever I see his picture, you know, especially the one where he’s smiling and stuff, I think about his parents, I think about his family.

And I think about all the pain that I’ve caused them and how there’s nothing I could do.

JASON: I was excited to be with him in the fraternity and grow with him and I think we would have been close friends for a very long time.

This is a way to turn something absolutely horrible and tragic into something positive and something that we can actually build on and prevent from ever happening again.

COURTNEY: Every time they get down, that’s what I have to remind them of.

Is like, even when we’re long gone Adams Law will still be here.

So he’ll still be here.

And then they, kind of, perk up a little bit because it’s true.

There will always be a law that’s in his name that makes a difference for kids.

ERIC: Something could happen, it could be a stupid Facebook memory that pops up and I don’t know what’s wrong, or what happened, you know, Linda’s there crying, you know, uncontrollably for hours.

It’s horrible going to bed at night, crying yourself to sleep.

You know, just wanting to hold your child one more time and not being able to.

REPORTER: A bill championed as “Adams Law” is moving forward in the general assembly.

It’s one of two anti-hazing bills honoring VCU freshman Adam Oakes.

The version of the bill that passed requires that schools publicly post founded instances of hazing online.

Another bill would give immunity to bystanders who ask for help when hazing is happening.

It also toughens the criminal charge if a victim is seriously injured or dies from a misdemeanor to a felony, which can carry a ten-year sentence.

COURTNEY: We want to make real change so that no other kid goes through what Adam went through that night.

REPORTER 2: Governor Glenn Younkin signs an anti-hazing bill into law in honor of VCU freshman Adam Oakes.

COURTNEY: It’s just showing that all the hard work and all the steps that we’ve taken since Adam's passing are coming to fruition.

REPORTER 3: Through this law, Eric Oakes sees his son’s legacy living on.

ERIC: I mean, Adam looked after other people.

He’s doing it again today.

You know, trying to help others and make sure that they, you know, have a safe experience.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪