Tyler Hilliard, 20, was a week away from his junior year in Riverside, California, when he went to a fraternity event with his pledge brothers at nearby Mount Rubydoo, a popular hiking spot.
On Saturday in September 2018, Hilliard’s phone text message was revealed on “Gold Paddle Day.” A report from the Times of Los Angeles shows that Hilliard was forced to be a member of his fraternity, Alpha Fi Alpha, eating an entire onion covered in hot sauce, drinking an extreme amount of water, and with some of the cactus He said he was beginning to be criticized.
That day he was rushed to the hospital. His mind stopped seven times that night, his family said, and he was declared to have ultimately died. Police and Hilliard’s family quickly investigated his death as a result of Hayes.
No individuals involved in the case were charged.
Now, almost seven years later, “Tyler’s Law” is trying to ensure that other college students in California will survive a similar Hayes incident.
“It’s been a while,” Hilliard’s mother, Miasya Kimble, said in tears at a press conference Tuesday. “It’s just the pain we’ve experienced.”
Tyler’s law, AB 2193, passed last September, is an extension of the state’s Hayes law. Starting in 2026, California universities can sue by hazing the victims if the university knew or should have known about hazing the incident and could not stop them.
“If you have a message to these universities and have fraternities connected to the universities, make sure they follow the law and follow the rules,” said Attorney V. James Desimone. “Because Hayes is a crime. And you will be charged and you will be held accountable.”
The law requires that the hazing case be compiled in an annual report, along with disclosures as to whether these cases are tied to student organizations.
Dorian Hu, a USC student who has pledged to be a fraternity, told KTLA on Tuesday the law was a good idea.
“The schools have brand names on these cases,” he said. “In my eyes, it makes sense for the school to be held responsible.”
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