Freshman found dead on campus was Mt. Oread Scholar, pre-pharmacy major

By Kevin Hardy

Monday, April 27, 2009

Dalton Eli Hawkins, Shawnee freshman, was found dead Friday morning outside of Watkins Scholarship Hall after falling off the roof, University Relations confirmed Saturday.

Hawkins was a resident of Ellsworth Hall and a member of the Mount Oread Scholars Program. Hawkins, a pre-pharmacy major, was employed at Sunflower Pharmacy,

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Read Friday's original story here.

The Shawnee County Coroner’s office released a preliminary autopsy report Sunday in the case of Dalton Hawkins, Shawnee freshman, who was found dead Friday morning near Watkins Scholarship Hall.

The report indicated the cause of death was blunt traumatic injuries to the head and chest as a result of a three-story fall from Watkins’ roof. Hawkins suffered injuries to his heart, left lung and ribs.

The initial preliminary drug test was “presumptively positive for alcohol.”

A representative from the coroner’s office said there was no time frame on when the full autopsy report would be completed.

— Kevin Hardy

1501 Inverness Dr. He had recently joined Alpha Kappa Lambda, a colony working toward recognition as an official KU fraternity.

Hawkins was born Aug. 13, 1990, in Shawnee. He attended Broken Arrow Elementary School and Hocker Grove Middle School in Shawnee. He was a 2008 graduate of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, where he participated in cross country and bowling.

Hunter Williams, Shawnee sophomore, attended high school with Hawkins and introduced him to the fraternity members. Williams said Hawkins was a great kid who he was just starting to get to know better.

“He was a jokester,” Williams said. “But, when it came time to be serious, he was serious.”

Williams said Hawkins was a hard-working, intelligent kid who always acted responsibly.

“This came as a surprise to all of us,” Williams said.

Shane Miller, De Soto freshman, said he was with Hawkins almost every day until his death and considered him one of his closest friends. He said Hawkins was a “goofy, hilarious” friend to have around. He has known Hawkins since August and said he had never seen him angry.

“It didn’t matter if you knew him for a day, or you knew him his whole life, he would take you in,” Miller said.

Miller said he and other members of the fraternity were notified of Hawkins’s death Friday morning. He said he couldn’t believe the news.

“It didn’t really hit me until he didn’t text me, like he did every morning. I didn’t get a text and that’s when I knew something was really wrong,” Miller said.

Keenan Soto, Overland Park sophomore and vice president of the fraternity, said he had been excited to get to know Hawkins better following his recent initiation.

“He was a great friend to all of us,” Soto said. “He had a great head on his shoulders.”

Soto said Hawkins was funny, yet respectful.

“He was a blast to be around — really funny and outgoing,” Soto said.

Hawkins is survived by two sisters, Makenzie, 14, and Misty, 35; his parents, Shawn and Rhonda; and three grandparents.

Makenzie Hawkins said her brother’s death was a complete shock to the entire family. She said her brother was outgoing and always had the “biggest smile.”

“He was always really nice and he gave me energy to keep going,” she said. “I really looked up to him.”

Makenzie said Dalton was smart and easy-to-love.

“He never did wrong. He was always a straight-A student,” she said.

Miller said the fraternity, leadership and residents of Ellsworth, and leadership from Watkins were organizing a memorial service to take place behind Ellsworth sometime this week.

“He was just a great guy who didn’t deserve to go this early,” he said.

Visitiation will occur from 6 to 8 tonight at Amos Family Funeral Home, 10901 Johnson Dr., Shawnee. Hawkins’ funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Crossroads Christian Church, 5855 Renner Rd., Shawnee. Internment will occur at Shawnee Mission Memorial Gardens, 23215 75th St., Shawnee, following the funeral.

— — Edited by Jesse Trimble

Comments

pantheon (anonymous) says...

My brain can't think good: Can someone interpret “presumptively positive for alcohol" for me?

April 27, 2009 at 8:43 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

leehuaitu (anonymous) says...

Alcohol presumed to be involved but no findings of facts have been made.

April 27, 2009 at 10:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

pantheon (anonymous) says...

That doesn't sound like much of a drug test. If you have to assume something after you've done a test, the test didn't really tell you anything. You might as well just drink a pint of his blood and see if you get tipsy.

April 27, 2009 at 10:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

fchambers (Francesca Chambers) says...

Ugh. This is not helping to reverse the streotype that KU needs to be a dry campus, or whatever it was that Wren's father was calling for. Please be responsible when drinking all! And please make sure your friends are being responsible too! This is so sad!

April 27, 2009 at 11:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

DenverDad (anonymous) says...

My heart goes out to the family. Our family knows only too well what you are going through. It is so sad to lose a son who had the world ahead of him. This is three deaths in two years due to alcohol related deaths on KU campus.

How many more will die before change happens? There's a reason KU has twice the national average of binge drinkers, 1 in 5 students. And I think that may even be a low statistic.

Prayers and thoughts go out to Dalton's family.

-Jay Wren, Jason's dad

April 28, 2009 at 1:09 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

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