FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Court TV) — A judge wept as she addressed a former fraternity leader at his sentencing for his role in a pledge’s hazing death.
Carter Eslick cries at his sentencing on Sept. 30, 2026. (Court TV)
Carter Eslick, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of hazing leading to death in the case of 18-year-old Colin Martinez, who died after a house party in January. Martinez had been pledging the fraternity at Northern Arizona University where Eslick was pledge master.
At Eslick’s sentencing on Wednesday, prosecutor Jonathan Mosher said that on Jan. 30, 2026, Eslick instructed the pledge group to play a drinking game in which each pledge drank from a passed-around bottle of vodka. “The idea being that they had to finish it themselves, so the more you drank, the less your fellow pledge would have to drink,” Mosher said. Eslick admitted to providing the vodka, giving the pledges the rules of the game, and encouraging them to play.
“I’m so incredibly deeply sorry for the events that happened on Jan. 30,” Eslick told the court. “I take full responsibility for the hand that I played in that ritual. When I was 19, I was just looking for some friends, just like Colin was. If I had known that someday someone’s life would possibly be in my hands, there’s no way in Hell I would have even looked that way.”
“There were choices made that night. There were opportunities to protect Colin, and when Colin became incapable of protecting himself, he was dependent upon other human beings who had the courage to protect him. And the courage was not there,” the victim’s father, Chris Martinez, said in court. “Carter, you will leave this process with something that Colin was denied: a future.”
Eslick cried throughout the hearing, as his friends and family spoke on his behalf. His mother told the judge that her son wasn’t drinking on the night in question and was acting as a designated driver; he had left the scene to take other people home by the time Colin Martinez needed help.
“In my mind, I just keep thinking, I just cannot believe that this intolerable behavior is still taking place when it is so obviously dangerous and the consequences so profound,” Judge Stacey Krueger said.
Mosher said investigators knew other fraternity members were involved but lacked enough evidence to charge anyone else. “We know there were others involved,” Mosher said. “But we can only prove that [the defendant] provided the alcohol, provided the instructions, the rules of the game, that killed Colin.”
Krueger said she knew Eslick had taken steps to make the game safer, such as cutting the vodka with water. But that same evidence, she said, showed that he knew the risks inherent in what was happening. “That’s why we’re here: because you did it anyways. Because you put the pressure to fit in over the well-being of others.” Krueger began to cry as she continued, saying, “I cannot fully comprehend the nightmare that [the Martinez family] lives every day. And my heart breaks for their family and for the harm that I agree is immeasurable. There’s no way to quantify that type of harm.”
“There’s going to be some jail, and I’m not pretending like that is helpful to you. It is pure consequence,” Krueger continued. “The reason why I think there should be a pure punishment aspect is because of the shockingly high level of alcohol in Colin’s system. And you were present and you were in charge when those games were played.”
Although Krueger sentenced Eslick to the maximum — one year in jail — all but 60 days of that time will be suspended under one condition: For each day taken off the sentence, Eslick must deliver an anti-hazing presentation. Eslick will also be on probation for three years.