Vulnerable Cheerleader BRUTALLY Assaulted By Four Men And Left TO DIE | True Crime Documentary

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[00:00:01]To the latest after the death of an LSU sophomore earlier this month, the details are incredibly disturbing as we have learned that several people are now charged with raping Madison Brooks after a night of drinking just before she died.

[00:00:16]>> The story is incredibly difficult and we've been reporting on this now for days. The coroner has officially said that the manner of death is still under investigation but has officially ruled that the cause of death was due to multiple traumatic injury. Police say that the LSU sophomore had been abandoned on the side of the road by three men and a 17-year-old. Prosecutors say two of the men raped the victim while the others watched.

[00:00:44]>> January 15th, 2023, 3:00 a.m., Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

[00:00:49]A ride-share driver cuts through the stillness of a sleeping neighborhood.

[00:00:53]The streets are deserted.

[00:00:55]Then without warning, his vehicle strikes something.

[00:00:58]Caught in the wash of his headlights, a young woman lies crumpled on the pavement, hovering at the razor's edge of consciousness. She's by herself, confused. He calls 911 immediately.

[00:01:10]Emergency responders rush her to the nearest hospital, but before the sun would rise, she would be gone.

[00:01:16]At first, it appears to be a heartbreaking accident, a young life cut short in the darkness.

[00:01:21]But what investigators pieced together in the days ahead would expose something far darker, a night of alleged sexual assault, a blood alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit, and four men who abandoned her on that road, men who would insist she gave her full consent.

[00:01:38]Her name was Madison Brooks. She was 19 years old, an LSU sophomore, a cherished daughter, sister, and friend with everything still waiting for her.

[00:01:49]This is the story of Madison Brooks's final 6 hours alive, from the bar where strangers approached her to the car where they violated her, to the road where they left her to die. Welcome to Crime Pods. Tonight, we step inside a darkness so profound it strains the boundaries of human understanding. Take a moment to hit subscribe, drop a like on this video, and now we begin.

[00:02:12]Madison Kennedy Brooks was born in Covington, Louisiana into a family that would serve as the very foundation of who she was.

[00:02:20]Her parents, John Brooks and Ashley Boward, raised her alongside her siblings, Aiden, Brady, and Kaylen, in a household overflowing with warmth, joy, and a bond that many people never get the chance to know. Her grandparents called her their sunshine, and if you crossed paths with Madison, you knew exactly why.

[00:02:42]Her godparents, Hunter and Lauren LeBlanc, witnessed her journey from a wide-eyed little girl into a young woman who seemed to bring light into every room she entered.

[00:02:53]Madison attended Saint Scholastica Academy, a private Catholic school in Covington, where she was anything but ordinary.

[00:03:00]She left an impression. She pushed herself academically, securing her spot on the honor roll year after year.

[00:03:07]As she stood on the sidelines as a member of the cheerleading squad, channeling that same electric energy and school spirit that everyone who encountered her would carry with them long after.

[00:03:19]But Madison was never defined by grades and athletics alone.

[00:03:23]She was deeply rooted in her faith as an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She joined Doves for Life, standing up for the causes that stirred something inside her.

[00:03:34]She was part of Spirit Club, constantly searching for ways to uplift those around her and leave her school better than she found it. Her teachers spoke of her with genuine affection, not simply as a strong student, but as someone who truly gave a damn, someone who showed up, someone who left a mark.

[00:03:52]When Madison walked across the stage at Saint Scholastica in 2021, her eyes were fixed on something greater, at Louisiana State University, LSU, the place where she would pursue everything she had been working toward.

[00:04:07]She stepped onto campus as an eager freshman, hungry to carve out her place in the world, and she did exactly that.

[00:04:15]Madison declared her major in communication, a field that seemed almost tailored for her.

[00:04:21]She loved stories. She loved people.

[00:04:24]She wanted to craft narratives that carried weight, stories that could move something in the world.

[00:04:30]And then, came the moment that would begin to define her path.

[00:04:34]Madison was accepted into the prestigious Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU. For anyone familiar with LSU, that name carries meaning.

[00:04:44]Manship stands among the top journalism and mass communication programs in the entire country.

[00:04:50]Earning a spot is no small feat. It's fiercely competitive. It's a distinction. They and Madison earned every bit of it. Her future was crystallizing right before her.

[00:05:00]Journalism, storytelling, a career built on using her voice to elevate the voices of others. She was precisely where she was always meant to be.

[00:05:10]But Madison's life at LSU stretched well beyond lecture halls and deadlines. She joined Alpha Phi Sorority, where she discovered a sisterhood that would come to feel like family.

[00:05:21]Her sorority sisters would later paint a picture of someone whose heart was genuine, and whose laugh could fill any space.

[00:05:29]She was the kind of person who made you feel like you were the only one in the room, truly seen, truly heard, truly valued.

[00:05:39]Madison carried an untamable adventurous streak within her.

[00:05:43]She went skydiving, because why not?

[00:05:46]She loved skiing, cool blazing down mountain slopes with that same fearless fire she poured into everything she touched.

[00:05:55]She explored new cities whenever the opportunity arose, absorbing new experiences, building a collection of moments.

[00:06:03]But ask anyone who truly knew Madison what she held closest and they would all give you the same answer.

[00:06:09]Family and friends, weekly dinners, long phone calls with her mom.

[00:06:14]Traditions that kept her anchored.

[00:06:17]She treasured the people in her life and they treasured her right back.

[00:06:21]Madison was the girl who transformed every room she walked into. Not because she craved the spotlight, but because warmth simply poured out of her without effort.

[00:06:31]By January 2023, Madison was flourishing. She was 19 years old, a sophomore at LSU, surrounded by friends who adored her and a family who stood behind her at every turn. Then she was constructing a future, stacking memories, living the college chapter that so many people only ever fantasize about.

[00:06:53]January 14th, 2023.

[00:06:57]A Saturday night for Madison.

[00:06:59]Just another weekend, another opportunity to breathe, to be with the people she cared about, to embrace being young and alive.

[00:07:09]She had no idea it would be her last night.

[00:07:12]She had no idea that in less than 12 hours everything would be gone.

[00:07:16]If you've ever set foot on the campus of Louisiana State University, you already know about Tigerland. It's the pulse of LSU nightlife, a stretch of bars and clubs sitting just off campus where students converge to release pressure, to celebrate, to push exams and deadlines out of their minds for a few precious hours.

[00:07:37]And anchored at the heart of Tigerland is Reggie's bar, a well-known destination packed on weekends, the kind of place you go with your crew, where the music hits hard and the drinks never seem to stop flowing.

[00:07:49]January 14th, 2023, uh around 10:00 at night, Madison Brooks walks into Reggie's. For her, it's just another Saturday night out. The kind of night she had lived through dozens of times before.

[00:08:03]But also inside Reggie's that night are four men.

[00:08:07]Kanye Deondre Washington, 18 years old.

[00:08:10]Desmond Carter, just 17. Kassan Carver, 18.

[00:08:15]And Everett Lee, 28, the oldest of the group and Washington's uncle.

[00:08:20]Madison doesn't know these men. They don't know her. They're strangers occupying the same space on the same night. But their worlds are about to collide in the most devastating way imaginable.

[00:08:33]Surveillance cameras inside Reggie's bar capture everything that unravels that night. And what they record is essential to understanding what happened to Madison Brooks.

[00:08:42]The footage shows Madison and the 17-year-old suspect, Desmond Carter, dancing together, so embracing.

[00:08:50]On the surface, it reads like any ordinary night out. Two young people caught up in the moment.

[00:08:57]But as the hours bleed forward, something shifts.

[00:09:01]Around 1:00 in the morning, the surveillance footage captures Madison stumbling. She cannot find her footing.

[00:09:08]People nearby, friends, strangers, move to pull her back upright.

[00:09:13]She's slurring her words, visibly intoxicated, clearly impaired.

[00:09:18]And the four men, they're watching.

[00:09:21]By 2:00 in the morning, Reggie's bar is shutting down.

[00:09:25]Last call has already passed. The lights climb higher. Bodies begin filtering out into the thick Louisiana night.

[00:09:34]And this is the moment everything fractures.

[00:09:37]Surveillance footage from outside the bar shows Madison leaving, but not alone.

[00:09:42]She's trailing the four men, all four of them, out across the parking lot toward a vehicle.

[00:09:48]According to statements the men would later give to police, Madison asked them for a ride home.

[00:09:54]Sit with that for a moment. Madison didn't know these men. She had no idea where she was headed. And by every account, including their own, she was in absolutely no condition to be making judgments about her own safety.

[00:10:07]But she climbed into Kasan Carver's vehicle anyway.

[00:10:11]Carver behind the wheel, Everett Lee in the passenger seat, and in the back, Madison, Keyon Washington, and Desmond Carter.

[00:10:20]The car pulls away from Reggie's bar, and somewhere in the darkness of Baton Rouge, it stops.

[00:10:26]What happens next would become the nucleus of a criminal case that remains unresolved more than two years later.

[00:10:33]According to Kasan Carver's own statement to investigators, his own words, Madison was very unstable on her feet, was not able to keep her balance, and was unable to speak clearly without slurring her words.

[00:10:47]He knew she was drunk. They all knew.

[00:10:50]But according to the arrest affidavit, Keyon Washington and Desmond Carter repeatedly pressed Madison to have sex with them.

[00:10:59]And according to their version of events, she said, "Yes."

[00:11:03]She consented.

[00:11:04]Here's the problem with that claim.

[00:11:06]When police asked Carver directly whether he believed Madison was too drunk to consent to sex, he responded with two words, "I guess."

[00:11:16]He later told investigators that what took place made him feel uncomfortable, and that he hated it, but he did nothing to stop it.

[00:11:24]Everett Lee allegedly stepped out of the vehicle during the alleged assaults, but he too did nothing to intervene.

[00:11:30]Two men allegedly assaulted Madison in the back of that car. Two others remained present and did nothing.

[00:11:37]Now, here's where it becomes even more disturbing.

[00:11:41]The defense attorneys for these men would later disclose that someone inside that car recorded video. Video of Madison intoxicated and slurring inside the vehicle after the alleged assault.

[00:11:54]She asks to get out of the car. She says she'll call an Uber and get home on her own, and they let her.

[00:12:00]It is approximately 2:50 in the morning.

[00:12:02]About 50 minutes have elapsed since they pulled away from Reggie's bar.

[00:12:06]They drop Madison off near the Pelican Lake subdivision, a neighborhood she doesn't recognize in an area she has never navigated. And then they drive away.

[00:12:16]Madison is left standing alone in the darkness. There are barely any streetlights. She's disoriented, confused.

[00:12:24]Her blood alcohol content, as toxicology reports would later reveal, was 0.319%.

[00:12:31]To put that into perspective, 0.08% is the legal limit for driving in Louisiana.

[00:12:37]Madison's blood alcohol level was nearly four times that amount.

[00:12:42]At that level of intoxication, medical experts say a person can experience alcohol poisoning, loss of consciousness, inability to make rational decisions or understand danger.

[00:12:54]Madison wanders from the subdivision toward Burbank Drive.

[00:12:58]Somehow, she ends up standing in the middle of the dark roadway.

[00:13:02]3:00 a.m.

[00:13:03]A ride-share driver is making his way through the area. He comes around a bend in the road, and there, caught in the beam of his headlights, is Madison.

[00:13:13]There's no time to stop. Impact.

[00:13:16]The driver immediately calls 911. He's not impaired. He's not at fault. He stays at the scene, cooperating fully with authorities.

[00:13:26]He's shaken, horrified.

[00:13:28]First responders arrive and rush Madison to the hospital. She's clinging to life.

[00:13:33]Her family is called. They race to be by her side, but the damage is beyond repair.

[00:13:40]Hours later, Madison Kennedy Brooks is pronounced dead.

[00:13:44]The official cause of death, multiple traumatic injuries secondary to motor vehicle versus pedestrian collision.

[00:13:51]She was 19 years old.

[00:13:53]A night that started like any other.

[00:13:55]A Saturday carrying the promise of fun ended with a young woman dying alone on a dark road, and four men would soon be confronting criminal charges for what unfolded in the hours before her death.

[00:14:09]January 15th, 2023.

[00:14:12]When the sun breaks over Baton Rouge that Sunday morning, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office is treating Madison Brooks's death as a tragic accident.

[00:14:22]A young woman struck by a car in the dark. Wrong place, wrong time. A devastating, senseless loss.

[00:14:30]But as investigators begin assembling the timeline, something refuses to align.

[00:14:35]Why was a 19-year-old LSU student standing in the middle of Burbank Drive at 3:00 in the morning?

[00:14:41]Where did she come from? How did she end up there? And perhaps most critically, who had she been with? But the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office begins pulling surveillance footage from businesses throughout the area. And that's when their attention locks onto Reggie's bar in Tigerland.

[00:14:57]What they find on that footage shifts the entire trajectory of the case.

[00:15:02]Investigators watch Madison arrive at Reggie's around 10:00 p.m.

[00:15:06]She looks happy, relaxed, ready for a night out with friends.

[00:15:11]But as the hours move forward, they watch her condition unravel.

[00:15:15]The stumbling, the falling, people hauling her back to her feet.

[00:15:20]The unmistakable, undeniable markers of severe intoxication.

[00:15:25]And then, around 2:00 in the morning, they see something that transforms this case from a tragic accident into a criminal investigation. Madison leaves Reggie's bar, but she's not alone. She's trailing four men, strangers, out across the parking lot.

[00:15:41]She climbs into their vehicle, and less than an hour later, she is dead.

[00:15:46]The autopsy and toxicology reports come back, and they tell a devastating story.

[00:15:51]Madison's blood alcohol content,.319%.

[00:15:56]Catastrophically high, nearly four times the legal limit for driving.

[00:16:01]At that level, a person faces the very real threat of alcohol poisoning, loss of consciousness, and death.

[00:16:09]The reports also show THC present in her system.

[00:16:13]But there's something else, something that confirms investigators' darkest suspicions.

[00:16:19]Madison's body shows injuries consistent with sexual assault.

[00:16:24]The coroner's findings are damning. This wasn't simply a young woman who drank too much and made a poor choice. This was a crime scene. Investigators get to work identifying the four men captured on the surveillance footage.

[00:16:36]They trace Kassan Carver's vehicle using license plate readers.

[00:16:40]They reconstruct their timeline.

[00:16:43]They lay the groundwork for interviews.

[00:16:46]January 23rd, 2023, eight days after Madison's death, all four suspects surrender themselves to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office.

[00:16:57]The news detonates across the LSU community and throughout the city of Baton Rouge. Arrests have been made in the Madison Brooks case.

[00:17:05]Four men are now facing criminal charges.

[00:17:08]Kassan Carver agrees to speak with investigators, and what he tells them is both illuminating and deeply disturbing.

[00:17:16]Yes, he acknowledges they encountered Madison at Reggie's bar. Yes, she left with them.

[00:17:22]Yes, she got into his car.

[00:17:24]He was behind the wheel.

[00:17:26]He describes Madison's condition in his own words.

[00:17:29]Very unstable on her feet. Was not able to keep her balance.

[00:17:34]And was unable to speak clearly without slurring her words. He acknowledges that Keyvon Washington and Desmond Carter asked Madison to have sex with them.

[00:17:43]According to Carver, she said yes.

[00:17:46]She consented.

[00:17:47]But then investigators put the critical question to him directly.

[00:17:52]Did he believe Madison was too drunk to consent to sex? His answer I guess. Carver tells police that what occurred made him feel uncomfortable, that he hated it.

[00:18:03]But he did nothing to stop it.

[00:18:05]Everett Lee, the oldest of the group at 28 years old, confirms he was present inside the vehicle, but he offers few details and declines to answer the majority of questions.

[00:18:17]Keyvon Washington denies everything.

[00:18:20]Denies having sex with Madison. Denies witnessing his friend and Madison have sex.

[00:18:27]When investigators ask him to provide a DNA swab, and he asks for an attorney and shuts the interview down.

[00:18:34]The 17-year-old statements are sealed because he is a juvenile at the time of his arrest.

[00:18:39]Based on the totality of the evidence, the surveillance footage, the toxicology reports, the medical findings, and the statements from Carver, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office files charges.

[00:18:52]Keyvon Washington and Desmond Carter are charged with third-degree rape.

[00:18:57]Everett Lee and Carson Carver are charged with principal to third-degree rape, meaning they were present during the alleged assault, but did not directly participate.

[00:19:07]Under Louisiana law, third-degree rape is defined as a situation where the victim is incapable of resisting or understanding the nature of the act by reason of a stupor or abnormal condition of mind produced by an intoxicating agent. You and the offender knew or should have known of the victim's incapacity.

[00:19:27]With Madison's blood alcohol content at 0.319% and with Carver's own admission that she was unstable and slurring her words, prosecutors believe they have a case.

[00:19:39]Bond is set for the three adults. Cass and Carver, $50,000.

[00:19:44]Everett Lee, $75,000.

[00:19:48]Keyvion Washington, $150,000.

[00:19:52]Within days, Carver and Lee post bond.

[00:19:56]They walk out of jail free to wait out the legal process.

[00:20:00]Washington remains behind bars.

[00:20:02]Desmond Carter, still a juvenile, is held in a detention facility.

[00:20:07]But for Madison's family, there is no bond. No release.

[00:20:11]No going home.

[00:20:13]Their daughter, their sister, their sunshine.

[00:20:17]She's gone forever.

[00:20:18]And the fight to hold someone accountable for her death has only just begun.

[00:20:23]The arrests sent shockwaves through Baton Rouge and far beyond.

[00:20:28]President William Tate issues a statement that channels the community's grief and fury.

[00:20:34]What happened to her was evil and our legal system will parcel out justice.

[00:20:38]Students gather for vigils across campus.

[00:20:41]Candles burn against the darkness.

[00:20:44]Flowers accumulate at makeshift memorials.

[00:20:47]Madison's sorority sisters at Alpha Phi release their own statement mourning the loss of their beloved sister.

[00:20:55]But they also share something that captures Madison's essence with heartbreaking clarity.

[00:21:02]Even in her final moments, Madison was an organ donor. Her heart and kidneys were donated to preserve the lives of others.

[00:21:10]Even in death, Madison gave life.

[00:21:13]She was also a hero, her sorority sisters wrote.

[00:21:16]But as the community grieves, the legal battle is only just getting started.

[00:21:22]Four days after the arrests, on January 27th, 2023, the defense attorneys representing the accused men hold a press conference.

[00:21:32]Ron Haley, Joe Long, Ryan Bowlin, and Dale Glover stand before cameras and make a stunning claim.

[00:21:40]3rd degree rape.

[00:21:42]We believe that based on the evidence that we're able to view today, that one of our clients had on his cloud, that she was not in a drunken stupor.

[00:21:51]What they accuse with right now is 3rd degree rape.

[00:21:54]Basically, for layman's terms, 3rd degree rape means that you cannot consent because you're in a drunken stupor that prevents you from saying yes or no.

[00:22:03]Based on the her body language, based on her words, based on what she was saying, um I can sit here firmly on even ground and say that a rape did not occur that evening.

[00:22:20]Absolutely not a rape, attorney Ron Haley declares.

[00:22:24]Listen, this is a tragedy, definitely not a crime.

[00:22:29]Joe Long, representing Cassan Carver, goes further.

[00:22:33]He challenges the blood alcohol test, suggesting the surveillance video from Reggie's bar dismantles the prosecution's narrative entirely.

[00:22:42]They assure the public that when the video recorded inside the car is brought to light, it will clear their clients without question.

[00:22:49]But when that video is finally examined in court, then it doesn't unfold the way the defense had anticipated. I'm sorry that I said it to you that ass.

[00:22:58]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:22:59]Take her out.

[00:23:00]>> I will Uber on my own. At a bond hearing, 19th Judicial District Judge Brad Myers watches the video footage captured by one of the suspects inside the car with Madison.

[00:23:12]And what he witnesses visibly disturbs him.

[00:23:15]The judge describes the suspects as callously laughing at Madison, a drunk 19-year-old woman slurring her words, clearly impaired.

[00:23:23]He also reviews the surveillance footage from Reggie's bar showing Madison falling, struggling to stay upright.

[00:23:30]Judge Myers' conclusion is unequivocal.

[00:23:32]The evidence to me is clear.

[00:23:35]A crime occurred that night.

[00:23:37]The video the defense believed would vindicate their clients instead fortifies the charges mounted against them.

[00:23:43]And those charges are about to grow heavier. February 22nd, 2023, a grand jury convenes to examine the evidence in the case.

[00:23:52]Their decision saw Desmond Carter's charges are upgraded from third-degree rape to first-degree rape.

[00:24:00]Carter will be prosecuted as an adult, and if convicted, the sentence is life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[00:24:08]But the case descends into even darker territory when additional allegations against Keyvon Washington come to the surface.

[00:24:17]In late January 2023, another young woman comes forward with a devastating allegation.

[00:24:24]She tells police that Washington had forced himself on her at a pool party in Walker, Louisiana back in May 2020.

[00:24:32]According to her statement, he followed her into a room and attacked her, covering her mouth to silence her while he violated her.

[00:24:41]She had reported it to police in 2021, but no charges were filed at that time.

[00:24:46]Now, with Madison's case commanding headlines, investigators take a second look. Where Washington is charged with first-degree rape in that case as well.

[00:24:56]Then, in February 2023, another victim emerges.

[00:25:01]A third alleged rape, this one in October 2022 in the same area of Baton Rouge where Madison was killed.

[00:25:09]The victim reported the assault to police on January 25th, 2023, the day after Washington was arrested in Madison's case.

[00:25:19]Keyvon Washington now faces three separate rape cases.

[00:25:23]Meanwhile, the defense wages another battle entirely.

[00:25:27]They seek to introduce evidence of Madison's prior sexual history.

[00:25:31]Specifically, they claim she had consensual rough sex with another man the day before she died.

[00:25:39]The defense contends this could account for her injuries in the absence of DNA evidence from the suspects, but prosecutors push back forcefully.

[00:25:47]Under Louisiana law, a victim's sexual history is generally inadmissible in rape trials when it's irrelevant. It's prejudicial, and it's a calculated attempt to put the victim on trial.

[00:26:00]In March 2024, the trial judge rules against the defense. Madison's sexual history cannot be introduced. The defense appeals.

[00:26:09]The case climbs all the way to the Louisiana Supreme Court. October 2025, the Supreme Court issues a unanimous decision. The lower court's ruling stands.

[00:26:20]The fundamental right to present a defense, the justices write, does not require the trial court to admit irrelevant evidence.

[00:26:27]Madison's past cannot be weaponized against her.

[00:26:31]But the prosecution carries a significant burden of its own.

[00:26:35]Sources reveal that no DNA from any of the four suspects was found inside Madison Brooks.

[00:26:42]How do you build a rape case without DNA evidence?

[00:26:45]District Attorney Hillar Moore acknowledges the weight of that burden.

[00:26:50]We have the burden of proof. That he is presumed innocent. We believe our case.

[00:26:55]We believe that he committed this offense. And that's why he is charged the way he is.

[00:27:01]The case will rest on witness statements, Madison's condition, the surrounding circumstances, and that video evidence.

[00:27:09]And so, the waiting begins.

[00:27:11]Months bleed into years.

[00:27:14]Desmond Carter's attorneys file appeals, grinding the process to a crawl.

[00:27:19]Washington's multiple cases create tangled scheduling complications.

[00:27:24]June 2025 More than 2 years after Madison's death, Kason Carver finally enters a plea.

[00:27:32]Not guilty to first-degree rape, third-degree rape, and video voyeurism.

[00:27:37]His trial is set for December 1st, 2025.

[00:27:42]Washington and Carter still no trial dates. Madison's family continues to wait for justice.

[00:27:48]In the aftermath of Madison's death, LSU and Louisiana state authorities move against the place where everything began.

[00:27:57]Reggie's bar, the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, issues an emergency suspension of Reggie's liquor license, citing a potential threat to public safety.

[00:28:09]LSU President Tate is blunt in his assessment. All but one of the suspects involved in this horrific scenario were underage, yet were able to consume alcohol at a local bar.

[00:28:21]He vows to hold establishments accountable. Enough is enough.

[00:28:25]Reggie's bar carries a troubled history.

[00:28:27]Prior incidents of violence, including a stabbing in 2016, an alleged rape in the parking lot, and a man pointing a loaded gun at patrons.

[00:28:37]The bar's long pattern of problems finally catches up with it. From tragedy, Madison's family sets out to build something meaningful.

[00:28:45]The Madison Brooks Scholarship Fund is established to support students at the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication, the very program Madison had just been accepted into.

[00:28:57]Her dreams of storytelling, of moving the needle, live on through the students who will carry her legacy forward.

[00:29:04]Alpha Phi sisters keep Madison's memory burning bright.

[00:29:09]Along the stretch of Burbank Drive where she died, a roadside memorial continues to grow.

[00:29:15]Flowers, candles, handwritten notes.

[00:29:18]"We love you, Maddie."

[00:29:20]Her grandfather, Kurt LeBlanc, speaks on behalf of the family.

[00:29:24]"She was pure joy and light.

[00:29:27]We will miss her terribly."

[00:29:30]Madison's mother, Ashley, carries a grief that exists beyond language. The family's attorney, Kerry Miller, becomes their public voice, speaking out against what she calls the defense's absolutely shameful tactics of attempting to introduce Madison's sexual history, questioning her blood alcohol level, blaming the victim.

[00:29:52]The family's mission is clear, ensure this never happens to another family.

[00:29:58]Madison's case ignites a national conversation around questions that are deeply uncomfortable but absolutely necessary.

[00:30:05]How do we protect young women on college campuses?

[00:30:09]What is consent when someone is blackout drunk?

[00:30:12]Where does legal responsibility end and moral responsibility begin?

[00:30:17]Campus safety initiatives are launched.

[00:30:19]Bystander intervention programs are implemented. Universities across the country re-examine their policies.

[00:30:26]But for Madison's family, these changes arrive far too late.

[00:30:31]As of now, here is where things stand.

[00:30:35]Kassan Carver's trial is set for December 1st, 2025.

[00:30:40]He will be the first to face a jury on charges of first-degree rape, and third-degree rape, and video voyeurism.

[00:30:47]Keyvone Washington awaits trial on Madison's case, alongside two additional rape allegations from separate victims.

[00:30:55]Desmond Carter awaits trial on first-degree rape charges.

[00:30:59]If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

[00:31:05]Everett Lee's status remains unclear as legal proceedings continue.

[00:31:09]And the ride-share driver who struck Madison that night, he was never charged. He wasn't impaired. He stayed at the scene. He cooperated fully. He's blameless. Yet, he too must carry the weight of what happened that night.

[00:31:23]The unanswered questions hang heavy.

[00:31:26]Will there ever be full accountability?

[00:31:28]Can prosecutors prove rape beyond a reasonable doubt without DNA evidence?

[00:31:34]Will a jury conclude that Madison was incapable of consent? Or will the defense narrative win out? More than two years after Madison's death, there have been no convictions, no justice, just waiting.

[00:31:47]Madison Brooks should be 22 years old today. She should have graduated from the Manship School of Mass Communication.

[00:31:55]She should be building her career, telling the stories that mattered to her, making the kind of difference she always set out to make.

[00:32:03]Instead, her family visits her grave.

[00:32:06]This case demands that we reckon with uncomfortable truths about consent, about bystander intervention, about the collective responsibility we bear to protect those who are vulnerable.

[00:32:19]Four men encountered Madison Brooks on January 14th, 2023.

[00:32:24]She was a stranger to them.

[00:32:26]Less than six hours later, she was dead.

[00:32:30]Whether justice will truly be served remains to be seen.

[00:32:34]But one thing is beyond dispute. Madison deserved better. She deserved to make it home safely.

[00:32:40]She deserved to live. So, her legacy isn't simply a scholarship fund or a shift in campus policy. It's the enduring reminder that behind every true crime story is a real human being, a daughter, a sister, a friend, someone whose life carried weight and meaning.

[00:33:00]Madison Kennedy Brooks mattered, and her story must be told.

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