Riley Strain’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the fraternity Delta Chi one year after his accidental death at age 22.
Strain’s parents, Michelle Whiteid and Robert Gilbert, his stepfather, Christopher Whiteid, and his stepmother, Melissa Gilbert, filed the lawsuit in Boone County, Missouri, on Friday, March 21. The court docs, shared by Nashville local news outlet FOX 17, list several members of the fraternity’s University of Missouri chapter — including its president, vice president and over 20 brothers — as defendants.
“At all times material hereto, Delta Chi had a duty of care to Riley Strain as a member of the Delta Chi fraternity and as a ‘brother’ in the organization, and over which Delta Chi asserts control,” the docs state. Among the lawsuit’s many claims, Strain’s family accuses the organization of negligence, failing to ensure the safety of its members and allowing “excessive alcohol consumption.”
The docs read, “As a direct and proximate result of the carelessness and negligence of defendant Delta Chi, Riley disappeared on March 8, 2024, and was pronounced dead on March 22, 2024, having drowned in the Cumberland River. After Riley was abandoned, but prior to his death, he experienced conscious pain and suffering. As a direct and proximate result of defendants’ negligence, Riley suffered severe injuries, ultimately resulting in his death on March 22, 2024.”
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The lawsuit also states that Strain “suffered extreme physical and emotional damage, and pain and suffering prior to his death” and described him as an “able-bodied man, capable of doing and performing work and labor” prior to the fraternity’s Nashville visit.
The family is seeking a jury trial and compensation for emotional damage, medical and funeral costs and other financial expenses related to Strain’s death.
Strain went missing while attending the fraternity’s “yearly formal in Nashville,” per the docs, which go on to claim that beer and Jell-O shots were served on the charter buses. Strain was allegedly “acting unusual” by the time the group visited Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink bar. After the bar kicked Strain out, his fraternity brothers allegedly “chose to continue partying” rather than look after him.
Strain reportedly informed the group he was returning to the hotel but instead wound up lost. He was ultimately found dead on March 22, 2024. “The body of Riley Strain was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville this morning, approximately 8 miles from downtown,” Metro Nashville police wrote via X at the time. “No foul play-related trauma was observed. An autopsy is pending.”
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An autopsy report obtained by TMZ in June 2024 listed Strain’s cause of death as drowning and ethanol intoxication. In addition to listing his death as accidental, the autopsy report revealed that Strain’s blood alcohol level was 0.228 at the time of examination and also featured “traces of THC.”
That same month, Bryan, 48, and more Nashville bar owners were cleared of any wrongdoing in the investigation into Strain’s death. “While the circumstances of Mr. Strain’s death are tragic, the TABC investigation into whether he was served alcohol while visibly intoxicated on the night of March 8, 2024, did not result in any concrete evidence in the form of eyewitness testimony or video proof of a violation,” the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission said in a statement to Us Weekly at the time.
