SWEETWATER, Fla. — A Secret Service agent is among the men who have been charged in connection with a fraternity hazing investigation involving a University of Miami graduate student and a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue employee, Local 10 learned Monday.
The Secret Service confirmed that Marquez Christopher Pinder, 29, is a current agent assigned to South Florida.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz and Sweetwater Police Chief Sergio Diez announced the arrests of Pinder, 26-year-old Jared Lamar James and 29-year-old Elijah Delano Dyous over the weekend.
An arrest warrant states that one of the victims was an undergraduate student at UM when he attended interest group meetings to become a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Because he is now a graduate law student at UM, he is a member of the alumni chapter, authorities said.
A second victim is currently employed by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Online jail records show James was arrested Friday and Pinder was taken into custody on Sunday. Dyous, of West Park, was arrested Friday in Broward County.
Authorities said an investigation uncovered evidence of alleged hazing incidents involving prolonged and repeated beatings with canes and paddles.
According to investigators, the hazing began April 1 inside an apartment unit at IDENTITY Miami, located at 400 SW 107th Ave., in Sweetwater and continued through April 2 and April 3 at the same location. On April 4, authorities said the hazing continued at a home in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.
Authorities said the beatings were carried out by the three suspects.
According to an arrest warrant, one of the victims identified Pinder as the “dean of pledges” and James as the “vice dean of pledges.”
The warrant states that part of the pledging process involved “getting down,” in which they were placed into the “KUT,” which stands for “Knowledge, Understanding, Teaching.”
According to the warrant, the victims were asked questions about the fraternity’s history and if they got an answer wrong, they would be placed in a “stress position,” described as “a half squat with one arm pointed forward.”
Detectives said while they were in that position, the victims would be struck on their buttocks with a paddle, and canes would also be used on the victims.
According to the warrant, two victims were subjected to hours of these “sessions” each day and were told to tell the suspects if they felt they were reaching their “physical limit,” including by urinating blood or feeling like they would pass out.
Detectives said one of the pledges did urinate blood during a bathroom break, which another pledge witnessed, but after informing the suspects, he was told it was too soon for anything like that to occur.
According to the warrant, the beatings intensified on April 4 when one of the victims bled through his underwear and pants.
When the other pledge notified Pinder of the injuries, all present fraternity members -- which included several men who did not participate in the beatings, but engaged in “acts of intimidation” -- became upset and instructed the two pledges to strip their clothing and throw it in the garbage, the warrant stated.
Detectives said the health of one of the victims began deteriorating following the April 4 beating and he began to suffer from “vomiting, fevers and immense pain on his buttocks.”
The warrant states that he went to an urgent care facility, but was transported to Jackson South Medical Center, due to large portions of his buttocks becoming necrotic.
The victim had to get substantial portions of skin and soft tissue surgically removed and receive extensive skin grafts to cover the areas that were removed, the warrant stated.
“Had (the victim) not received necessary emergency medical care, his injuries would have resulted in renal failure leading to death,” the warrant stated.
Detectives said the second victim also had to seek medical care for wounds to his backside, although he denied that he had been subjected to paddling.
According to the warrant, a search warrant was obtained for that victim’s medical records, which revealed that he had extensive medical treatment from April 6 to April 24 and had even been intubated.
Detectives said despite his denials, his injuries were consistent with the statements provided by the first victim that they had both been subjected to severe beatings to their backsides.
Pinder, James and Dyous are each charged with two counts of attempted manslaughter with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon causing great bodily harm and hazing with a deadly weapon.
Pinder appeared in bond court Monday, where he was ordered held on a $75,000 bond. If he posts bond, he will be placed on house arrest with a GPS monitor and he is not allowed to have any contact with the victims or his fraternity brothers.
“Among some, fraternity hazing might be seen as a tradition creating a sense of belonging and brotherhood, but since 2001, hazing in Florida has killed Chad Meredith, Robert Champion and Andrew Coffey while seriously injuring others. This case, with the victims requiring hospitalization, provide clear-cut examples of hazing’s danger,” Fernandez Rundle said. “In Florida, hazing is abuse and it is a crime. Its victims too often lie in their graves and in hospital beds.”
Kappa Alpha Psi leadership said in a statement that they maintain a “zero-tolerance policy on hazing.”
“Hazing is illegal, strictly prohibited, and is never a condition of membership,” the statement read. “The arrested perpetrators are not active or financial members …They do not have any authority to conduct any program or authorize any process on our behalf.”
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
