HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The families of three James Madison University students who died in a car crash after a Pi Beta Chi fraternity event have filed wrongful death suits against dozens of members of the fraternity. The lawsuits say the defendants kept crucial information from law enforcement and that the young men’s deaths were “foreseeable.”
On the night of February 2, 2023, then 19-year-old Campbell Fortune was driving four men back to JMU’s campus after a Pi Beta Chi (PBX) rush event at a gentlemen’s club in Hardy County, WV, when he crashed into a tree going 95 miles per hours.
Nineteen-year-old John “Luke” Fergusson of Richmond, 19-year-old Nicholas Troutman of Henrico County, and 20-year-old Joshua Mardis of Williamsburg all died at the scene. One other passenger, Baird Weisleder, and the driver, Fortune, were airlifted to the hospital with severe injuries but survived.
Fortune was initially charged with three counts of negligent homicide, but after accepting a plea deal, he was sentenced in April of 2025 to 90 days in jail for one count of negligent homicide and speeding. The families of the young men who died told 8News they believed it was a “fair and thoughtful” sentence…