An 18-year-old freshman at the University of Kentucky may have died of alcohol poisoning after he was found unresponsive at a fraternity house Monday night.
University police were called to the FarmHouse Fraternity house at around 6.22pm last night, according to the university.
Thomas ‘Lofton’ Hazelwood, an agricultural economics major from Henderson, was found unresponsive and taken to the university’s Chandler Hospital in Lexington.
He was pronounced dead later that evening from what the county coroner suspects is alcohol toxicity, according to WKYT.
No official cause of death has been released, but foul play is not suspected. Police continue to investigate the circumstances of his death.
It remains unclear how the student was able to obtain the alcohol believed to have killed him, what he drunk, or how much.
Thomas ‘Lofton’ Hazelwood, 18, was found unresponsive at a University of Kentucky frat house
The agricultural economics freshman was pronounced dead Monday night
Hazelwood’s mother Tracey called said he was an ‘old soul. Such a good boy. Everybody loved him. Never left any of us without saying love you,’ according to WHAS in Louisville.
It is unclear if there was an event or a party at the fraternity house at the time of Hazelwood’s death.
‘The thoughts of the entire UK community are with his family and all those who knew him,’ the university said in a statement Tuesday, adding that they’re offering ‘support services’ to Hazelwood’s fraternity brothers as well as his family and classmates.
The FarmHouse fraternity issued a similar statement.
‘We are saddened to share the passing of a University of Kentucky new member of FarmHouse Fraternity,’ said fraternity CEO Christian Wiggins.
‘Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, chapter members and the entire community. We have encouraged all members to cooperate with the investigation. We will provide additional information as it becomes available.’
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He was found by police at the FarmHouse Fraternity house, which houses 60 members and costs $700 per semester to join
The fraternity says it will cooperate with university police as they investigate his death
University of Kentucky student Haley Hart told WKYT that the situation was ‘scary,’ though scant details are known as of Tuesday night.
‘Nobody just thinks about that whenever they come to college,’ she said.
‘He came here three months ago thinking it was gonna be the best time of his life, and this happens ,and it’s absolutely awful, but all you can do is pray for them and just try to hope for the best.’
The FarmHouse Fraternity was founded in 1905, while the UK chapter was chartered in 1951, according to the UK FarmHouse website.
It currently boasts 71 members, and it’s frat house can fit up to 60 of them.
‘The object of our Fraternity is to promote good fellowship, to encourage studiousness, and to inspire its members in seeking the best in their chosen lines of study, as well as in life,’ the frat says.
The fraternity charges $700 in dues per semester.
The University of Kentucky costs an estimated $31,754 a year for in-state students, according to the college’s website. The costs include room and board, books and travel.
A student told WHAS that students are looking for more answers surrounding Hazelwood’s death on Monday night.
‘I wanna know what actually happened. I wanna know how many kids are actually hurt, is everyone gonna be be OK?’ she asked.
‘And what’s actually going on on campus, which is really hard for everyone to kind of figure out because there’s so many different things being said.’
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