Secret Service agent charged in alleged fraternity hazing that nearly killed University of Miami student
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Federal agent Marquez Christopher Pinder and two others are accused of participating in an alleged hazing ritual that prosecutors say left a student critically injured.
A member of the United States Secret Service was arrested in Florida after he and two other suspects were charged in connection with a hazing incident that nearly led to the death of a University of Miami law school student.
Marquez Christopher Pinder, 29, is currently on administrative leave with the agency and is “fully cooperating with the investigation,” according to a statement from Special Agent in Charge Michael Townsend, the head of the agency’s Miami field office.
Pinder and two other men, Jared Lamar James, 26, and Elijah Delano Dyous, 29, are accused of participating in a days-long hazing ritual from April 1 through April 4 involving two men who were beaten severely with “canes and paddles,” according to the arrest warrant. Victim No. 1, a student at the University of Miami law school, suffered injuries to where they had to be “intubated and received critical care to prevent further physical deterioration and death.”
Another victim suffered severe injuries to the point where they required “skin grafts” to cover dead tissue.
Per the warrant, Dyous gave Pinder the title of “dean of pledges” for the Kappa Alpha Psi chapter located at the University of Miami at Coral Gables.
“An investigation revealed evidence of alleged hazing incidents involving prolonged and repeated beatings with canes and paddles,” prosecutors said in a statement. “A failure to correctly answer questions about the fraternity allegedly led to the beatings.”
Pinder, James and Dyous were each charged with attempted manslaughter with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and hazing. According to WSVN, Pinder was given a $75,000 bond following his first court appearance on Monday and bonded out.
In a statement, Kappa Alpha Psi president Jimmy McMikle said the three are not current students nor do they have the authority to conduct fraternity affairs.
“Kappa Alpha Psi is a non-hazing fraternity. We neither condone nor tolerate acts of hazing behavior within our organization or from our membership,” McMikle said in a statement to NBC News on Monday.
“They do not have an official affiliation with any chapter nor any official role with the organization. Likewise, they do not have any authority to conduct any program or authorize any process on our behalf. We have and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement as they conduct their investigation to help with the administration of justice as it should unfold.”
In past years, the fraternity has come under scrutiny for hazing incidents. In 2025, the Miami University at Ohio chapter of the fraternity was suspended from campus until 2040 after an investigation concluded physical abuse had occurred to new pledges. In 2007, two members of the fraternity’s Florida A&M chapter were sentenced to two years in prison for rupturing a pledge’s eardrum in a hazing ritual that involved boxing gloves and a wooden paddle.
Former Florida state senator Dwight Bullard, a member of the fraternity, told the Miami Herald that he felt “disgusted” that such incidents of hazing can continue to occur, decades after Florida passed strict laws against the practice.
“It could bring a bad reputation to the organization itself, but it actually has potential long-term costs,” Bullard said. “Not only is your reputation ruined, but there are real costs involved, meaning people may file lawsuits. There could be legal ramifications.”