Beer Pong Murder In Texas: Lacie LaRose Dies At Graduation Party In ‘Random’ Shooting Over Game Rules?
Police in College Station, Texas, believe an argument over beer pong game rules led to the murder of a co-ed. Investigators say Lacie LaRose died in a hail of gunfire at a graduation party last month. The Blinn College student was not the intended target of the shooting. The suspect is in custody, and new information has emerged.
On the night of May 2, Ronald McNeil, 39, and at least two friends “crashed” a party in the 900 block of San Benito Drive. The event was hosted by Texas A&M student, Landon Duke, who was celebrating ahead of his May 17 ceremony, according to a New York Daily News report.
Texas man guns down 19-year-old woman during argument over beer pong rules http://t.co/U4O7Srm0ZK pic.twitter.com/hpBUX7rthG
— Raw Story (@RawStory) June 4, 2015
McNeil, a neighbor, joined some 100-120 others in attendance to watch the Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather fight on a pay-per-view cable television channel. Duke and an unnamed person accompanying him set out on a door-to-door effort to alert neighbors of the Texas party, which included beer pong.
Beer pong game taken too seriously led to fatal shooting of Texas college student: report. http://t.co/TYJ3yiiHWe pic.twitter.com/DxOh3yYMuK
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) June 4, 2015
With a large crowd expected, they were doing damage control in the event the celebration got rowdy. They asked anyone disturbed by the noise to contact them first, not the police. They deny inviting anyone in the community to the party, that included McNeil, who lives directly across the street. He showed up anyway.
“It was a little strange that they [suspected shooter and two friends] were at the party but they were really nice, at first, congratulating me on graduating.”
During the airing of the boxing match, Duke said McNeil became angry with other guests for not cheering on Mayweather, but “it wasn’t a big deal” at the time. Police responded to the party on a noise complaint, but soon left after everything appeared resolved.
An hour later, the party began to wind down; there were no more than two dozen people remaining at the time. Duke told police one of McNeil’s friends got into a verbal altercation with one of his friends over the rules of beer pong. A few punches were thrown, but the party-crashers soon backed away and were escorted out of the home. Before leaving, McNeil allegedly vowed to return with his gun.
LaRose and Duke joined the others in the backyard in preparation for a game of beer pong. A short time later, shots were fired, some of which struck LaRose. Other rounds and shrapnel hit two others. When the gunfire ended, the woman was dead, murdered by the shooter, who Duke claims he didn’t see in the chaos.
Witness testimonies vary to some degree. McNeil’s account suggests they came under attack by some at the party demanding that they leave. He also claims many racial slurs were used towards them.
McNeil was actually apprehended by an officer near the home at the time of the woman’s murder. After an investigation at the scene, he was arrested and charged in the shooting of the bystander. A Glock handgun was recovered.
Beer pong is a drinking game often played in co-ed settings among college and university students. Urban dictionary defines the popular pastime.
“A drinking game in which players attempt to throw ping pong balls across a table into an opponent’s half-filled cups of beer. Players are required to drink the beer from any of their cups into which the opponent throws a ball. The first player to hit all their opponent’s cups wins. The loser is required to drink whatever beer is left on the table (in opponent’s cups).”
The shooting in Texas over reported beer pong rules is the latest incident of violence involving college students at large gatherings. As previously reported by Inquisitr, a Spring Break shooting on March 29 in Panama City, Florida, left seven seriously injured.
Over 100 witnesses spoke with police about the suspected shooter. David Jarmichael Daniels, 22, was arrested and is facing several counts of attempted murder. It’s unknown what precipitated the shooting.
On the Texas murder investigation, McNeil, a convicted felon, was held at Brazos County Jail for the beer pong incident. His bail is set at $500,000. Police are still investigating the woman’s death.
[Photo via The Eagle]
