Global Courant 2023-05-17 11:00:05
Funeral for Madison Brooks
Mourners outside St. Peter Catholic Church dressed in pink in honor of LSU student Madison Brooks’ favorite color ((KR/Mega for Fox News Digital).
The lives of two LSU seniors changed dramatically at 3 a.m. on January 15 when they quit Madison Brooks“Guardian Angels,” as Brooks’ mother now calls them.
Brooks, a 19-year-old LSU sophomore, died on a busy divided highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after she was allegedly raped and left on the side of the road from her suspected attackers’ car.
Her blood alcohol level was 0.319%, nearly four times the legal level for driving according to authorities, and she stumbled into the street, where she was hit by a car.
Beau Adams, 21, was on his way home from his shift as a bartender with his friend, Kathryn Devillier, 21, when they saw a truck driving down the road that they initially thought was a deer.
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Madison Brooks, 19, was an LSU sophomore when she was allegedly raped in January 2023 before being fatally hit by a car. (Asley Baustert)
They didn’t know who she was or what was going on, Adams told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview
“I wanted to stop and help the man move the animal so he could continue on his way,” Adams said. “When we pulled the side of the shoulder off, we realized it was a girl.”
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The driver who hit Brooks “just stood there in shock,” Adams said. “The truck was destroyed. She was on the ground and I was trying to stay calm at this point to help in any way I could.
“Once I realized she wasn’t breathing, I got down on my knees and kept asking, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?’ But she didn’t respond.”
Kathryn Devillier and Beau Adams in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, May 16, 2023. The 21-year-old roommates are credited with extending the last moments of Madison Brooks’ life after she was hit by a car by performing CPR. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
That’s when he performed CPR, which he learned in 8th grade, and treated Brooks for the next 10 to 15 minutes until emergency personnel arrived.
Meanwhile, Devillier evaded traffic to find all of Brooks’ belongings and identification. She said she found Brooks’ bag on the other side of the highway.
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Brooks’ mother, Ashley Baustert, spent a day with Fox News Digital last week and she spoke about Adams and Devillier’s bravery.
“It gives me great comfort and peace that Beau and Kathryn were both there. The last few people Madi saw would not be her (alleged) attackers,” said Baustert.
ADAMS AND DEVILLIER DON’T WANT TO LEAVE MADI
After medical staff rushed Brooks to a hospital, Devillier and Adams felt they weren’t done yet.
Devillier, who lost her own mother in a car accident, knew how much pain Brooks’ family would feel, so she tracked down Brooks’ mother on social media to talk to her.
Kathryn Devillier and Beau Adams got matching tattoos in honor of Madison Brooks. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
“One of the people who was there (at Devillier’s mom’s car accident) contacted my grandma, and it brought her a lot of peace, so I just wanted to at least let Madison’s mom know she wasn’t in any pain. She was unresponsive,” said Devillier, who is stored in Baustert’s phone as “Madi’s Guardian Angel.”
They found out which hospital Brooks had been taken to and were there around 6 a.m. to check on Brooks and stayed until they got an answer about what happened to the young LSU student.
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“We were so frantic and needed to know if she was okay,” Devillier said. So after a while, the hospital guard introduced them to the responding officer, who gave them a brief summary of what had happened.
“They were put there for a reason by the grace of God,” Baustert said. “I really believe that because no other people stopped and did what they were doing.”
A photo of Madison Brooks sits atop a memorial on the LSU campus. (The Brooks family)
Although Brooks eventually died in hospital, Baustert believes Beau’s life-saving measures extended her daughter’s life long enough for her family to say goodbye and for doctors to save her organs for donation, which was “very important to Madi”.
The lives of Brooks’ family, Devillier and Adams, have been intertwined ever since. They both have winged tattoos on their arms to honor Madison.
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The LSU seniors marked the area of the accident with a cross as a memorial to Brooks on the side of Burbank Highway, which grew with stuffed animals and other trinkets. And they attended Brooks’ funeral and memorial services.
They keep in touch with Brooks’ mother and check in with her.
LIFE AFTER THE DEATH OF BROOKS
Madison Brooks’ mother, Ashley Baustert, stands in front of a Madison Brooks Foundation billboard in Times Square on May 8, 2023. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
No one could have predicted that leaving work that weekend, before LSU’s spring semester even started, would have so changed their entire lives.
As the adrenaline wore off that night, Adams and Devillier struggled with their own grief and trauma.
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“When we got back in the car, I completely panicked,” said Devillier. “I lost it. And it’s something we still think about. We drive past it every day.”
They talked through all their what-if questions and said they were getting therapy.
Madison Brooks, a 19-year-old LSU sophomore, allegedly raped in January before being fatally hit by a car (Asley Baustert)
“I wish we could have done more at this point and think if we could have done more,” said Adams.
Devillier said, “I wish I could have been in the ambulance with her. There were so many things you wish you could have done and changed, but I’m glad we were at least there for her.’
THE RUMBLE OF FAST CARS ON THE BURBANK HIGHWAY
Burbank Highway has a notorious reputation for pedestrian accidents, but it is a vital thoroughfare that connects off-campus student housing, the LSU campus, and the university’s football stadium and social center called Tigerland, along with the rest of Baton Rouge.
A memorial to Madison Brooks at the 8800 block on Burbank Drive in Baton Rouge in January 2023. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
A welcome gateway to Tigerland in Baton Rouge. Located in Tigerland, Reggie’s Bar is reportedly one of the last places LSU student Madison Morgan was seen before her death on Jan. 15. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
But there are no street lights or sidewalks, and motorists drive so fast that the vibrations of passing cars can be felt beneath your feet when you pull over to the side of the road.
Adams spoke to the driver, who has been cleared of wrongdoing by police, the night of the accident, and he told Adams that Brooks was walking in the middle of the road.
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Within a month of Brooks’ death on January 15, when she was hit by a car on a Baton Rouge highway after her alleged rapists dropped her off at the side of the road, attorneys representing the four suspects released two short videos to local news outlets that portrayed Brooks in a negative light.
SUSPECTS’ LAWYERS DEFEND CLIENTS IN COURT
Four men were arrested in Brooks’ alleged rape and subsequent death.
Casen Carver, 18, and Desmond Carter, 17, were charged with third and first degree rape. Despite his age, Carter will be tried as an adult.
From left to right Kaivon Deondre Washington, Casen Carver and Everett Deonte Lee. The fourth suspect is 17 years old but was identified as Desmond Carter and will be tried as an adult. (East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office/Instagram)
The other two suspects, Everett Lee, 28, and Kaivon Washington, 18, are awaiting charges. Lee was charged with third-degree rape and Washington was charged with third-degree rape.
“I hope Madison and her family get justice,” Adams said.
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Lawyers for the suspects maintain their clients’ innocence and have said the sex was consensual. Carver’s attorney, Joe Long, told WWLTV that the charges against his client were baseless.
Carver “refused sex when it was offered and was called gay when he wouldn’t have sex with her,” Long told the local news outlet. “The prosecutor thought it appropriate to bring charges that could put him in prison for the rest of his life. Facts don’t matter if the mafia wants their pound of flesh.’
MADISON BROOKS FOUNDATION BILLBOARD IN TIMES SQUARE
Carver’s indictment was the most recent update in the court proceedings, which could go on for years.
To maintain both mental and physical health, Baustert said she dismisses the legal side of her daughter’s death and relies on her attorney, Kerry Miller, to pass on important information.
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“I’m really not letting myself go there,” said Baustert.
Instead, she focuses on her family and devotes her time to the Madison Brooks Foundation, which advocates for organ donation (a topic the Brooks avidly support), young adult safety, and a hardship grant in Madison’s name.
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CELEBRATING WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BROOKS’ 20TH BIRTHDAY IN NYC
Her best friend, Jenny Reimold, told Fox News Digital that she is proud to see Baustert “deploy her pain to honor Madi.”
Continuing their annual tradition, Baustert, Reimold and Baustert’s mother, Mandy LeBlanc, celebrated what would have been Brooks’ 20th birthday with a trip to New York City, specifically Times Square, where a Madison Brooks Foundation billboard hovered over the Big Apple towering.
A billboard for the Madison Brooks Foundation seen in Times Square on May 8, 2023. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
(L-R) Mandy Le Blanc, Ashley Baustert and Jenny Reimold in New York City, New York, May 8, 2023. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
They spent Monday afternoon with Fox News Digital talking about Brooks’ life and how they are coping with the loss while watching the billboard.
“I feel like she’s with me all the time,” said Baustert. “Now it’s about picking up where Madi left off.”
Brooks’ family registered a star in her honor. It is located at the very tip of the bull’s horn of the Taurus constellation, which her family believes represents her perfectly.
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“She was brave. She was fearless. She was strong and she stood up for what she believed in. No one could convince her to do or say something that she didn’t think was important,” Baustert said.
“But she loved everything she had. She treated her friends like her siblings, like they were part of her family.”
They bought their brothers a telescope so they can see Brooks’ star whenever they want.
Chris Eberhart is a crime and American news reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to chris.eberhart@fox.com or on twitter @ChrisEberhart48
