Do you think Washington State University
could have prevented the death of your son?
Absolutely.
In the summer of 2019, Sam Martinez,
the son of Hector Martinez and Jolayne Houtz,
went off to WSU and joined the fraternity,
Alpha Tau Omega or Ato.
Three months later,
this 19 year old freshman,
brimming with promise was dead.
I got a phone call.
Hector got a notification at work.
I knew, you know, something
something was happening, but
Sam's parents rushed home to find
police waiting with the news.
Was. From there it's like.
I mean nothing to imagine them
until you still use of yourself.
The morning of November 12th, 2019,
Pullman police responded to the Ato
House to find Sam lying on his stomach
on the basement floor unresponsive.
Alright.
The night before Ato held its annual
party where new members find out
the identity of their Big Brother,
Sam shot this video hours before his death.
You can hear an upperclassman
encouraging a freshman to down a shot.
Police found Sam's Big Brother
gave him and his buddy in the
Red Jersey 1/2 gallon of rum,
the equivalent of 40 shots
to split between the two,
the coroner said Sam died around 4:30 in
the morning from acute alcohol poisoning.
Investigations by police and wazoo
concluded the events leading to Sam's
death constituted illegal hazing.
He died alone and I.
I sometimes in dark moments.
I wonder, did he wonder where I was?
Did he wonder where we were?
It's it's agonizing to think that he.
He didn't have somebody with
them in that moment of passage
before Sam headed off to the Pullman campus.
He and his parents read about the
benefits of choosing fraternity life.
It was all spelled out on the
school's official website,
a home away from home academics,
a pillar of fraternity, life,
leadership opportunities,
and a commitment to community service.
We were all excited. I mean, we were
just on top of the world, you know.
But there was a lot.
University officials didn't
include on that website when
Sam went off to school,
there was absolutely.
No mention of Wazoo's own documented
history of a dangerous culture
at Ato and throughout the Greek system.
That includes in 2013 the WSU Conduct
board found Ato broke hazing,
reckless endangerment and
alcohol laws after pledges were
made to clean up raw sewage.
They were also forced to
drink alcohol in 2015.
The school got a complaint.
New Ato members may have been
forced to drink resulting in
one pledge getting injured.
We know that now we had no way to know it.
Man. But WSU knew it. They knew it,
dating back to at least 2013.
That Ato was a bad actor.
And did they have a duty to
share that with you? You bet,
and there's more.
In 2017, the mother of an Ato pledge
filed a complaint with the school,
saying her son was forced to drink large
quantities of alcohol and withstood
aggressive hazing and emotional abuse.
She included photos she
described as new members,
forced to stand in toilets and a
freshman getting tackled to the ground.
And in 2018, the year before
Sam died, complaints of hazing led Ato
to expel nearly half of its members.
Records show WSU officials were well
aware of the Ato investigation.
We were blindsided.
We just didn't know all of this.
If we'd known a tiny fraction of it,
I think Sam would still be alive.
Debbie Sue declined to speak with us,
citing ongoing litigation with the
Martinez family, but in court records,
administrators wrote they had no
duty to protect Sam because the
illegal conduct occurred off campus
and that the school's relationship
with Ato is to support and advise.
Not to control and manage,
but university records show WSU has the
power to sanction and even shut down
fraternities who violate policies and laws.
The university can remove official school
recognition and without that a fraternity
can't recruit new members or survive.
In this instance, they knew exactly
about Ato and ATO's own history.
Seattle attorney Becky Rowe represents
Sam's parents, she says WSU blew it.
By not holding Ato to account despite
the university's zero tolerance,
hazing policy in that 2013
investigation involving cleaning
up sewage and alcohol abuse,
the Conduct Office did bring
down the hammer and issued Ato a
loss of recognition for a year.
It didn't stick.
The university president reduced the
punishment to 8 months probation.
What does that say to
everybody in the whole system?
It says at the end of the day,
you simply aren't going to be held.
Accountable and that was a really
important and a terrible message
that was sent to everybody.
It's been 2 1/2 years since
the Martinez family lost.
Their only son, a soccer
star known as a loyal friend.
The boy with a MW smile
whose life ended by hazing.
It's inexplicable to me. Why?
Why are we still talking about hazing?
Can't we just agree that?
It's long past time.
For everyone to do their part,
including Washington State University.
To stop it in its tracks.
Things should be getting better.
A new law just passed called Sam's
law that mandates that WSU and
every other College in the state of
Washington must must post incidents
of hazing on their school websites.
So now parents and students will be
getting the detailed information that
the Martinez family did not have.
Sam's parents sued wazoo,
the case was dismissed last month,
but they're not giving up.
They are appealing back to you Susanna.
Is there anything else coming
up surrounding this case?
Well, there is action on the
campus in terms of the Ato House.
Washington State University used its
power to withdraw official recognition.
That means they are gone and the earliest
they can come back is in 2026 and in
the meantime the parents are pushing
for more legislation that would now
increase criminal penalties for hazing.
That should be coming up.
A lot of discussion on that in
the next legislative session.
Because right now,
hazing is simply a misdemeanor.