By NED RANDOLPH
nrandolph@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff writer
A preliminary report shows that 19-year-old Corey James Domingue died with a blood alcohol level of 0.43 after drinking a bottle of rum in his apartment near LSU Thursday night, an East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office spokesman said Tuesday.
A blood alcohol level of 0.30 can be lethal. In Louisiana, motorists with a 0.08 blood alcohol level can be arrested for driving while intoxicated.
"State Police (breathalyzers) used to only go to 0.395," coroner spokesman Don Moreau said. "(He) was 0.43, that's well into the toxic level of alcohol."
Baton Rouge Police say Domingue was drinking in his apartment on 1221 Bob Pettit Drive with six other people. They told police they were studying for a test.
Police Cpl. Don Kelly would not disclose their names, saying the investigation is ongoing.
"At the moment we believe he bought the alcohol himself," Kelly said.
Police also believe Domingue drank voluntarily and purchased the rum with a fake Texas driver's license, Kelly said.
Domingue, a chemical engineering sophomore from Franklin, died at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center at 6:05 a.m. Friday, Moreau said.
LSU Chancellor Mark Emmert expressed his condolences.
"I know I speak for the entire LSU family when I say how very saddened we all are to learn of the tragic death of one of our students," he wrote.
He continued, "We must take care of each other by intervening with friends who drink too much or too frequently."
Emmert asked campus activist groups to increase efforts to address alcohol abuse.
A spokeswoman for the Campus-Community Coalition for Change said her organization will place an ad in the campus newspaper, The Reveille, every day, promoting responsible behavior and teaching students how to identify and respond to alcohol poisoning.
Police say Domingue, after drinking the rum, began to get sick around 12:30 a.m. and fell asleep in the bathroom. At 4:30 a.m., he was found having difficulty breathing.
"A lot of times students don't realize that sleeping it off is the first stage of a coma," Nancy said Mathews, the coalition's executive director.
"If they've consumed a lot of alcohol in a short time, they can't make decisions for themselves because their brain is anesthetized," she said.
The coalition was formed after the binge drinking death of LSU student Benjamin Wynne in August 1997.
Celebrating a fraternity bid, Wynne consumed 25 to 30 drinks in an hour, authorities estimated. His blood alcohol level was 0.588.
nrandolph@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff writer
A preliminary report shows that 19-year-old Corey James Domingue died with a blood alcohol level of 0.43 after drinking a bottle of rum in his apartment near LSU Thursday night, an East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office spokesman said Tuesday.
A blood alcohol level of 0.30 can be lethal. In Louisiana, motorists with a 0.08 blood alcohol level can be arrested for driving while intoxicated.
"State Police (breathalyzers) used to only go to 0.395," coroner spokesman Don Moreau said. "(He) was 0.43, that's well into the toxic level of alcohol."
Baton Rouge Police say Domingue was drinking in his apartment on 1221 Bob Pettit Drive with six other people. They told police they were studying for a test.
Police Cpl. Don Kelly would not disclose their names, saying the investigation is ongoing.
"At the moment we believe he bought the alcohol himself," Kelly said.
Police also believe Domingue drank voluntarily and purchased the rum with a fake Texas driver's license, Kelly said.
Domingue, a chemical engineering sophomore from Franklin, died at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center at 6:05 a.m. Friday, Moreau said.
LSU Chancellor Mark Emmert expressed his condolences.
"I know I speak for the entire LSU family when I say how very saddened we all are to learn of the tragic death of one of our students," he wrote.
He continued, "We must take care of each other by intervening with friends who drink too much or too frequently."
Emmert asked campus activist groups to increase efforts to address alcohol abuse.
A spokeswoman for the Campus-Community Coalition for Change said her organization will place an ad in the campus newspaper, The Reveille, every day, promoting responsible behavior and teaching students how to identify and respond to alcohol poisoning.
Police say Domingue, after drinking the rum, began to get sick around 12:30 a.m. and fell asleep in the bathroom. At 4:30 a.m., he was found having difficulty breathing.
"A lot of times students don't realize that sleeping it off is the first stage of a coma," Nancy said Mathews, the coalition's executive director.
"If they've consumed a lot of alcohol in a short time, they can't make decisions for themselves because their brain is anesthetized," she said.
The coalition was formed after the binge drinking death of LSU student Benjamin Wynne in August 1997.
Celebrating a fraternity bid, Wynne consumed 25 to 30 drinks in an hour, authorities estimated. His blood alcohol level was 0.588.
