What happened to Sawyer Lee Updike? Everything to know about University of Texas' hazing incident as victim's family sues fraternity

University of Texas freshman Sawyer Lee Updike took his own life in January 2024, at the age of 18. On November 20, 2025, his parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Sigma Chi fraternity's Alpha Nu chapter. They also sued the members who were accused of hazing the teenager.

The suit suggested that Sawyer was forcefully subjected to a "months-long hazing process" that he allegedly had to complete to be a Sigma Chi member. According to The New York Post, the teenager began pledging in the fall of the previous year, that is, 2023. The Daily Mail suggested that Sawyer passed away at a convenience store parking lot, just months after joining UT Austin's Sigma Chi's Alpha Nu. 

The lawsuit suggested that Sawyer Lee Updike was subjected to various physical injuries ranging from being burned with cigarettes to being forced to consume cocaine. Sawyer was allegedly "speared with a fishhook" during an event centered around alcohol. At one point, he allegedly got his hip pierced with a staple gun.

The lawsuit even claimed that some members threatened to sexually assault Sawyer's girlfriend if he did not obey their orders. The lawsuit included several photos of the teenager with what were alleged to be cigarette burn marks and other bruises on his body.

Before death, Sawyer Lee Updike was allegedly given cocaine and psilocybin mushrooms by other fraternity members

The lawsuit stated a series of events that likely happened before Sawyer Lee Updike took his own life. On or around January 16, 2024, the teenager returned to the Sigma Chi house. This was when the fraternity members allegedly gave him cocaine and psilocybin mushrooms. According to the suit, the consumption of these items possibly led to the intensification of his crisis.

A short time later, the teenager walked out of the house while still being intoxicated. The lawsuit stated that he then drove his car to a nearby convenience store when he finally took his life at the parking lot. Sheryl Roberts-Updike, his mother, said in a statement,

"No parent should ever lose a child, and certainly not because of hazing disguised as brotherhood... It is unbearable to know that a young man with so much promise was put through something so dangerous in the name of belonging."

The attorneys described Sawyer's death as "the combination of demeaning and cruel hazing and the introduction (forced providing) of illegal drugs." The Daily Mail reports suggest that an internal investigation was later conducted by the Sigma Chi. This reportedly led to many members getting expelled and the UT Austin chapter getting shut down.

According to The Post, despite being given orders to shut down, the chapter started existing under "Alpha Nu." Sigma Chi International Executive Director Michael J. Church issued a statement to The Daily Mail, according to which,

"For Sigma Chi, our central principles call us to hold each other to the highest possible standards and to care especially for our brothers. Any individual who fails to do so betrays not only himself but also his brothers and the values we hold sacred."

As the news about Sawyer Lee Updike's case went viral, many netizens took to social media to condemn the alleged acts that he was subjected to.