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Culture > News

Texas State Students Face Charges Involving Death of RA

Two students from Texas State University are facing charges in connection with the death of a Resident Assistant. This concludes a month-long joint investigation between The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) and Texas State University Police Department.


Erin Hicks, the 24-year-old Resident Advisor, died after jumping out of a first-floor window with two other students to escape a busted underage drinking party.

According to the Associated Press, Christopher Williams, 19, who hosted the illegal drinking party in his dorm room, is charged with making alcohol available to minors and possession of a driver’s license issued to someone else.

Williams and one of the girls who jumped with Hicks, Kristin McCreery, 19, are charged with interference with public duties and making false statements to the police. However, the details of these alleged false statements regarding the incident have not been clarified.

One May 3 at approximately 2 a.m., Hicks, McCreery, and a third student identified as Andrew Smith, 19, jumped out of the Laurel Hall dorm room window when police reported to the scene due to a noise complaint.

After the hillside fall, Smith who was uninjured, managed to flag down assistance from a nearby road. Both women were taken by ambulance to University Medical Center Brackenridge. While McCreery remained in fair condition for back injuries, Hicks later died of head trauma, said university spokesman Mark Hendricks. 

Six other students involved with the party were charged as being minors in possession of alcohol.

According to The Austin American Statesman, Hicks was a sophomore studying mass communication at Temple University. As for the accused, Williams turned himself in to the Hays County Jail on May 31, and was released on bond, and McCreery has since disenrolled from TSU and failed to turn herself into police.

Alexandra is a graduate from the University of New Hampshire and the current Assistant Digital Editor at Martha Stewart Living. As a journalism student, she worked as the Director of UNH’s Student Press Organization (SPO) and on staff for four student publications on her campus. In the summer of 2010, she studied abroad at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, in England, where she drank afternoon tea and rode the Tube (but sadly no, she did not meet Prince Harry). Since beginning her career, her written work has appeared in USA Today College, Huffington Post, Northshore, and MarthaStewart.com, among others. When not in the office, she can be found perusing travel magazines to plan her next trip, walking her two dogs (both named Rocky), or practicing ballet. Chat with her on Twitter @allie_churchill.