San Diego State University freshman Dylan Hernandez was determined to do well on a midterm exam in early November, telling one of his sisters he planned to stay sober at a fraternity party the night before the test.

It did not turn out that way.

In the kind of tragedy that has been plaguing American universities, Hernandez ended up drinking to the point where his blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit, according to a newly obtained university police report.

The document says the 19-year-old Hernandez, who was pledging, left the party with a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity brother who guided him to his dorm. The teen later fell at least six feet from his top bunk, fractured his skull and died.


The incident unfolded on Nov. 6 and 7 and has raised serious questions at the college about underage drinking, hazing, discussion of destroying evidence by the fraternity, and whether the school should do more to safeguard certain student beds.

Family members also have concerns about the integrity of the department’s investigation thus far.

The bulk of the investigation was completed less than three weeks after Dylan’s death, according to a copy of the report provided to the Union-Tribune by the family through a representative.

Police gave the report to the family during the recent holidays. George Kindley, the family’s attorney, says the family was puzzled by the investigation because it did not appear to be finished. Under the report’s recommendations, police said “case suspended pending additional evidence or information.”

The report suggests that campus police did not interview anybody from the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity including about a dozen specific members who likely attended and had videos or images from the party.


One video shared with the Union-Tribune shows a young man getting spanked with a paddle. Another shows a man who had been slapped on the back so hard or so often that he had hand-shaped welts on his back. Yet another shows a man who appears to be passed out on the floor, facedown in vomit.

The department also chose not to pursue search warrants to review cellphone records and social media records of students, despite possessing chat messages between suspected fraternity members instructing one another to delete possibly incriminating material and to stay quiet. “Remember silence is golden,” one member wrote.

“The university and the police department made a promise that they were going to investigate the drinking and the hazing that they knew happened that night,” said 22-year-old Julia Hernandez, one of Dylan’s two sisters.

“When my dad spoke to them recently they said they have not interviewed anyone (who was) at the party, they have not gone to the (fraternity) house, they have not retained any information from the fraternity or its members, so, in our eyes, the investigation isn’t complete.”


The report’s initial conclusion on Nov. 27 was that there was not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges, including felony hazing. Neither the university police department nor the District Attorney’s Office would answer specific questions about the case since the investigation is ongoing.

On Friday, police issued a public statement that says, in part, “As this is an ongoing investigation, detectives will continue to examine all aspects and details of the case. ...Further updates about the case will be provided as the investigation progresses.” They also asked anyone with information about the incident to contact campus police.

The Hernandez family has not filed a lawsuit in connection with the death, but is pressing the issue with the university through their attorney.

Dylan Hernandez with his sisters Julia and Kayla and his parents, Bart and Sylvie, at his high school graduation in Florida. Courtesy of Hernandez family


Far from home

Dylan Hernandez grew up 2,100 miles away from San Diego, in Fernandina Beach, a part of greater Jacksonville, Fla. His parents, Bart and Sylvie, encouraged their children to travel to new locales for college to expand their horizons. Julia Hernandez attended Boston University.

Dylan was enchanted by San Diego and enrolled at SDSU, where he was majoring in business. It was a shared interest with his father, who operates mattress stores in Georgia and Florida.

Julia Hernandez said her brother didn’t have a lot of experience with alcohol before arriving at SDSU, and that he initially had not intended to join a fraternity right away to give himself time to adjust to college life. But he became interested in Phi Gamma Delta.


At the time of his death, 10 SDSU fraternities were under investigation or suspension including Phi Gamma, which was being investigated for an incident that did not involve alcohol.

“He heard there wasn’t a lot of hazing (in that fraternity),” the sister told the Union-Tribune.

He kept in close contact with Julia and his other sister, Kayla Hernandez, so they knew he would be attending the fraternity’s “Big Little Reveal” — the night a pledge learns who his fraternity mentor will be. It’s an event thrown at fraternities across the country and is infamous for binge drinking.

Hernandez may have arrived at the event as early as 5:30 p.m. and left around midnight.


Little is known about what happened at the party since police investigators do not appear to have interviewed anyone who attended, but Snapchat videos found on Hernandez’s cellphone provide glimpses of what took place.

One video pans across what appears to be a fraternity house, capturing images of beer cans and at least one alcohol bottle on a living room table. Another shows a possible pledge putting hot sauce in his eye and another sitting cross-legged on the ground with his head in his hands.

Early Thursday, when the party was winding down, videos were shared to the fraternity’s Snapchat group chat showing people slurring words and berating young men who appeared to have passed out after drinking too much.

“When my sister and I first started to look through them we were shocked,” Julia Hernandez said of the videos. “It was our little brother, and it was crazy and heartbreaking to see how he was treated. To know that there was so much underage drinking, there was so much hazing that went on that night — all these other kids could have been seriously hurt, not just my brother.”


According to Phi Gamma Delta’s risk management policy, hazing is defined in part as “any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule.” Such activities may include use of alcohol, paddling in any form and engaging in public stunts, according to the fraternity’s policy.

By the time Hernandez headed home about midnight, his blood alcohol level was about .23 percent, nearly triple the legal driving limit of 0.08, according to a blood test and the college’s police report. This estimate assumed Hernandez had stopped drinking about 11:30 p.m., and was based in part on the rate alcohol generally dissipates from the body.

He was guided back to his dorm at Tenochca Residence Hall by his newly appointed fraternity mentor who then handed Hernandez off to a young woman he had once dated, according to the report. With her help, the teen made his way to his room and into bed.

Call 9-1-1


According to his roommate, Hernandez fell out of his top bunk about 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 7. The roommate told police he and Hernandez laughed about it, but that Hernandez complained at the time of a headache. The roommate heard Hernandez mentioning his headache again around 7 a.m.

Around 8 a.m., the roommate sent a Snapchat message to the young woman who helped Hernandez to his room the night before saying that Hernandez was making a “weird snoring sound.” When she went to check on him about 8:45 a.m. she found him foaming at the mouth.

Hernandez was rushed to the hospital. According to his autopsy, the teen fractured his skull when he fell from his bed, suffering a brain bleed that ultimately led to his death.

He was pronounced brain dead on Nov. 8 at about 3:30 p.m.


In addition to their concerns about what may have happened at the fraternity party, family members feel strongly that Hernandez’s bed was not outfitted with the proper safety features.

“Dylan died from blunt force trauma,” Julia Hernandez said. “These bunk beds are dangerously high. If he was on a normal bed or a bunk bed that had higher railings ... he would probably still be with us today.”

According to the campus police report, one investigator noted that the teen’s safety railing “only extended about 3 to 4 inches” above the mattress. The investigator said if Hernandez had been laying on top of his blankets instead of under them, it would have been “relatively easy to roll over the rail.”


The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission outlines a variety of specific safety guidelines for bunk beds including that they have two upper-bunk guardrails and that the tops of guardrails must be no less than 5 inches above the mattress — neither of which appeared to be present on Hernandez’s bed. But bunks found in dorm rooms and other institutions, like jails and military barracks, are not held to those standards.

SDSU spokeswoman Cory Marshall said Friday that there have been two known bunk bed-related incidents in the last five years in which a parent contacted the college about an issue that Marshall would not specify. She added the college doesn’t formally track bunk-bed related incidents because “there have not been any issues that require such documentation.”

Marshall said rails are installed on the top of all lofted beds and bunk beds at the university, and safety rails and ladders are attached and inspected by professional maintenance personnel before the start of each fall semester and during winter break.

The frat’s response


Members of Hernandez’s fraternity soon learned he had been hospitalized, according to messages from the teen’s phone. In a Snapchat group titled “Phi Gam or Die Fam”, fraternity members encouraged one another to delete messages and videos that may contain incriminating evidence. Investigators wrote in the report that they used contact information from Hernandez’s phone and a list of fraternity members from Phi Gamma to identify a dozen people in the chat.

“Ay we should wipe the chats,” one member said.

“Remember what silence is,” another said.

They also discussed ways to get Hernandez’s phone. Other members talked about drinking so much they blacked out.


“Might have blacked last night,” one member said.

“A lot of us did…” another said.

Investigators used information gleaned from the videos, messages and interviews with family members and Hernandez’s dormmates to identify more than a dozen students who likely attended or had knowledge of what happened at the party including any possible hazing, underage drinking or drug use.

The department didn’t seek search warrants for Snapchat and phone records they knew existed, although they did prepare to do so. The department sent several letters to cellphone carriers and social media companies asking that they preserve certain records, but they stopped short of requesting them, according to the report.


“After consultation with the district attorney’s office, we determined we did not have sufficient evidence, at least at this time, to establish probable cause to obtain a warrant,” the police report read.

A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office said Friday that they could not comment on open investigations.

“Our office continues to be in contact with SDSU police to support and advise them during their ongoing investigation,” Communications Director Steve Walker said in an email.

University officials also declined to comment on the matter further.


SDSU issued a statement Friday saying, “To support the integrity of the University Police investigation, the report has not been released to the president, other members of the campus administration or to members of our team within Strategic Communications and Public Affairs.”

The Union-Tribune submitted numerous questions about the report to campus police, many of which the department declined to answer due to its ongoing investigation. On Friday, the department issued a public statement saying the investigation is on-going and that it is “awaiting findings from the Medical Examiner’s Office.”

In the wake of Hernandez’s death, SDSU President Adela de la Torre created two task forces, one which will explore the use and misuse of alcohol by students, and the other looking at student health and safety. Both committees are scheduled to issue reports and recommendations this year.