Megan Helal's Parents File Lawsuit For Baylor Fraternity Wrongful Death

The parents of a 19 year-old Navarro College volleyball player who died after a night of heavy drinking are suing her boyfriend and his Baylor University fraternity.

Megan Helal was found lifeless on March 21, 2010 on the floor of her boyfriend's apartment after they attended a Sigma Chi party at Mynar's Bar in West, Texas. Helal was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a Waco hospital.

In the lawsuit, Helal's parents claim negligence on the part of her boyfriend, the frat, bartenders and bar owners for serving the underage co-ed alcohol. KCEN reports a total of 10 people are named in the suit for reportedly playing a role in their daughter's death.

According to the suit, Helal was served between 10 and 17 vodka drinks in a two-hour span.

"Clearly the bar didn't monitor what was going on inside," Linda Turley, the family’s attorney, told a local Fox affiliate. "They didn't know who the liquor was being served to. They just kept track of how much they served. In addition, they allowed the fraternity to set up bottle service in a little room where the drinking was going on."

However, an autopsy report found Helal died of natural causes, and not from alcohol. According to KWTX, she died of cardiac arrhythmia because of myocardial fibrosis of undetermined origin.

The lawsuit doesn't seek a specific amount in damages. Turley told KXXV they don't want another family to get the same call they did, letting them know their child was "clinging to life because they've been over served alcohol."

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Comments

[OnceProudAmerican]

07:38 PM on 03/23/2012

Did I miss somethig here?
Are you not to be responsible for yourself?
This is another case of "It's not my fault!" BS. It's not the bartender's resposability to babysit everyone. With FREEDOM comes RESPONSABLITY. People need to be held accountable for their actions!

[NeoConsAreFinished]

05:34 PM on 03/24/2012

Actually it is the bartenders responsibility to not serve obviously inebriated patrons.
It is the bartenders responsibility to not let underage people drink in the establishment.
You want to try again?
OH.. Ron Ayn L Rand Paul is a deluded bigot.

[JosephLavoieJr]

03:27 PM on 03/23/2012

I'm sorry, but she died Mid-March of 2010, that means she had about a semester and a half to "learn how to drink in college." Throw in a pre-existing condition, and you've lost your lawsuit.

[elcastle]

02:01 PM on 03/23/2012

I don't get it - you have 18 years to raise your child, give them best advice best value system. Once they are adult and go to college and drink themselves to death...you are going to sue anybody instead of questioning your child behavior? That maybe that child was not so perfect after all??? That it made its mistakes and paid for it? Yes, underage should not get drinks..but you just can't reinforce it with all the fake ID's - is anybody ever persecuted for having fake ID in bar??? Sometimes is up to workers there to guess the age - like my daughter who is 23 was refused to enter bar even though she had all her ID - college, drivers licence etc..only because she looks so young...she was outraged, some younger girls with fake ID got in...so you can't trust strange people to control your child behavior all the time. I would be devastated in this situation...but then, sometimes I have to take responsibility for my influence and choices of my child. Sometimes even as we are in rage...we can't pull down other people for not their mistakes...

[tilenfloors]

02:21 AM on 03/23/2012

If she was to drunk to realize how many she had her boyfriend should have stepped in and said thats enough if he really cared about her. Its still her fault and personal liability.

[HaroldS761]

02:01 AM on 03/23/2012

Nice job trying to profit from your daughter's death.

"Ms Helal’s autopsy revealed that she died of cardiac arrhythmia because of myocardial fibrosis, and alcohol was out ruled". She also died the morning following the drinking.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117736/Parents-student-19-died-downing-17-vodkas-drinking-party-sue-fraternity-bar.html#ixzz1puuVuUDI

Blame everyone other than your bad parenting.

[r3000]

12:26 AM on 03/24/2012

Your comments are pretty far past acceptable. Hard to imagine how someone fails to imagine how this went down. The kid tastes freedom, pushes things too far and gets into trouble. That's not bad parenting to blame. And access to alcohol in a situation like this could be regulated if someone actually tried. A lawsuit over this will push decision makers to be far more careful, and hopefully this sort of thing can be prevented in future.

[HaroldS761]

02:03 AM on 03/24/2012

The autopsy ruled out alcohol and the parents are still looking for someone to blame other than their daughter or themselves.

Accept some responsibility instead of looking for a paycheck.

[HRN-STL]

02:48 PM on 03/22/2012

I'm sure she was forced to drink (sarcasm). The girl wanted to party and died as a result. Actions have consequences. I'm sorry for her family but no one else is to blame but the woman herself.

[PirateJohn]

04:01 PM on 03/22/2012

Not disagreeing that she chose to drink to excess, but you don't think that the fraternity members are culpable for not calling an ambulance or something when she was passed out?

[Still Posting]

04:25 PM on 03/22/2012

"but you don't think "

No, he doesn't. Thus, the use of misplaced 'sarcasm' in a tragic death story of a young girl.

[ladiesbane]

05:03 PM on 03/22/2012

Well, you may think that death is an appropriate consequence for drinking, but the autopsy showed the cause of death to be unrelated: "cardiac arrhythmia because of myocardial fibrosis of undetermined origin." That is the strangest fact in this entire sad story.

[Waldimore]

01:23 PM on 03/22/2012

I really don't understand the binge drinking culture of today's youth in college. And I say this as someone who started to drink in high school with friends at parties. We'd find someone to get us a bottle and we'd share it. But we didn't binge. Back then in nyc, the drinking age was 18, but NJ complained that their kids were coming across the bridge to nyc and it was causing all sorts of problems since they were driving. So NY went with the rest of the country. There has to be a way to teach kids responsible behavior. If you want to proclaim your adulthood, your independence, then responsibility goes hand-in-hand with that. If it's true that the woman had an underlying heart condition then she certainly should not have been drinking. Something people should be aware of. My family thanks it's lucky stars that my sister's son never picked up any bad habits as he was discovered to have a heart condition at 33 that the same could have happened. You never know and kids and their parents should be aware of this before acting out just to be part of the crowd.

[PirateJohn]

04:05 PM on 03/22/2012

It's the unintended consequence of having Victorian drinking laws. Go to most countries and children as young as 8 or 9 frequently have a small glass of wine or beer with dinner. And they don't grow up to become binge drinkers.

By forbidding it, you only add to its mystique. Then when they get to college, they drink not because they enjoy what they are drinking but because they've been told their whole lives that they are not supposed to.

[filtersweep]

05:30 PM on 03/22/2012

While I agree with your sentiment, please show me that most countries allow young kids to drink alcohol. That is not reality. Kids do not frequently consume alcohol in "most countries" in the world. And it is not victorian laws that are the issue.... but I agree that binge drinking is the unintended consequence of over legislation.

[OnceProudAmerican]

07:53 PM on 03/23/2012

One of the best ways I've found was when my sons were growing up was to let them drink in front of me. You take away the joy of doing something illegal and it's no longer a THRILL.
All three of my sons don't Drink and have no desire to! The same thing with guns , I raised my boys with guns in the house all their lives and never worried about them miss using them.
Give your kids resposibility when their youmg and be there for them and they'll do right.
I'm not bragging, just saying.

[TooKrunk]

12:57 PM on 03/22/2012

This girl was 19, not old enough to drink, but old enough to be responsible for her own behavior.

[VA Jill]

09:13 AM on 03/22/2012

Lovely, Baylor. You're a "Christian university" and your fraternities behave like this? Oh wait, that's right....the supremely ethical Christian gentleman Ken Starr is your president now.

[dduncan]

02:18 PM on 03/22/2012

Your post is not helpful. This happened at a bar, in another city, way off campus, and what would you have Ken Starr or Baylor do? I am no fan of Ken Starr, but you are way out of line. Sometimes it is as simple as personal responsibility. And the Sigma Chi fraternity has been kicked out of Baylor. That was the appropriate reaction. Yours was not.

[nowallflower]

04:26 PM on 03/22/2012

Ditto!

[Hypermark]

05:38 PM on 03/22/2012

One of the reasons this happened in West instead of Waco is because of Baylor's idiotic and puritanical view of drinking.

From the Baylor Student Activities Student Handbook Policy and Procedures: "It is also a violation of University policy for anyone to possess, use, or be under the influence of an alcoholic beverage on the campus or at a University-related activity off campus. An off-campus University-related activity is defined in the process for student organization violations."

In the past, Baylor has defined "off-campus University-related activity" as any function with two or more Baylor students, and getting caught drinking at a "Baylor Gathering" is grounds for expulsion. Granted, many students stay in Waco and drink anyway. Scruffy Murphy's hasn't suffered from Baylor's moronic policy on alcohol.

However, many students, especially athletes and students with something to lose, travel out of Waco to party with their friends, and since it's a bit dangerous to have a drink now and then in Waco, they tend to binge drink.

[smardy]

06:53 AM on 03/22/2012

Helal was from an Arabic Family of Muslim faith who abhorr any type alcohol She attended Navarro college a 2 year school but she dated the Baylor University guy named Whitfield whose drinking habits are a scar on baylor's reputation since it is an expensive private and Christian university, mostly medical students, and they do not allow any alcohol on campus or in their fraternities or sororoties.

[dduncan]

02:22 PM on 03/22/2012

Baylor alum here and BU is like any other college today. Lots of drinking does go on, or did when I was there. The scar is that a young woman died. But please, let's be real about American universities today.

And BU does not allow frat or sor houses. And no booze allowed on campus. That really is the best the administration can do.

[dnv66]

06:45 AM on 03/22/2012

Alcohol is a toxic,flammable solvent;nobody should drink it,ever.

[SydneyHav]

12:39 PM on 03/22/2012

Hey I'll drink to that!!!!

[Nation Loused]

02:26 PM on 03/22/2012

x2

[Nation Loused]

02:27 PM on 03/22/2012

I wont------for another 5 hours or so

[nickersdacat]

06:30 AM on 03/22/2012

Guess she didn't join SADD (students against driving drunk) or DARE (drug and alcohol resistance education) when in high school?
Too bad she was smart enough to get into a good college, just not smart enough to stay alive. If my kid wasted all that tuition money, I'd probably want to sue too.

[PirateJohn]

04:06 PM on 03/22/2012

If she got into a good college, then why did she go to Baylor instead?

[Morgana R Barbknecht]

06:40 PM on 03/23/2012

bu dum ching

[catlijk2]

06:01 AM on 03/22/2012

There are laws against 1) Serving a Minor 2) A bar that serves a drunk person...
College Tuition is high enough that the school SHOULD come up with a program to keep students from drinking. Saying this is a parenting issue is just 'stupid! I don't think it's possible to scare a teenager into or out of anything.

[OnceProudAmerican]

08:05 PM on 03/23/2012

You cannot legislate MORALS or COMMON SENSE.
Look atall the laws we have and still it continues!

[recorddemon]

05:25 AM on 03/22/2012

1 phrase comes to mind: "Personal responsibility." any doubters?

[njdavenj]

08:27 AM on 03/22/2012

recorddemon: This Huff Post,News Story, Very Clearly state's the following:

After an autopsy was performed on the body of this deceased young woman. It was stated that she did not physically die from the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Her death was stated to have been attributed to an unknown fatal heart event. Clearly, something this young woman was born with, concerning her genetic pre-disposition.

Therefore, Based on the result's of the autopsy that had been performed on her dead physical body. There is no one to blame in this sad, but very real incident. "Personal Responsibility" According to your post! Has, Nothing to do with what had happened to the very short & sadly very young life, to come to terms with this loss. For her parent's, The rest of those that would be considered as loved one's within her most recent physical life.All of these event's occurred, very simply based on her pre-desposed fate. The same is and will always' be true for any and all living being's upon & under the face of planet Earth & All life that reside's in fresh water & also in salt water & all other type's of liquid Earthly environment's.

[conformist1983]

05:22 AM on 03/22/2012

as sad as this is, nobody was forcing the drinks down her throat. nobodies fault but her own. people are too sue-happy

[SydneyHav]

01:24 PM on 03/22/2012

Conformist, definitely good points. Apparently there wasn't any drugs put in her drinks. The quanity of alcohol she drank during a two hour period was up to her. There may have been peer pressure but that doesn't take all responsibility away from her. Could she have died if she stayed sober - - maybe. Maybe not. As far as the parents it doesn't sound like they have a case and are probably trying to sue everyone in hopes of getting large settlements - - - thus neither side wanting to go to court and hoping they get lucky..