GENESEO, N.Y. -- Two SUNY Geneseo students were charged Monday in connection with the death of a student inside a fraternity house on May 4, 2014 - exactly one year ago to the day.
Emergency crews found Alex Davis, a sophomore at SUNY Geneseo, unresponsive on a couch at the Phi Sigma Xi fraternity. Police were responding to a 911 call.
Davis, who was from Victor, was not breathing and a short time later, was pronounced dead. Davis was 20.
Initially, police did not know what killed Davis. When results came back from the medical examiner, police said they showed that Alex had a mix of fentanyl and cocaine in his system at the time of his death.
"Both EMS responding to the person in distress and our officers responding were not told about any drug use or possible drug use," said Jeff Szczesniak, Geneseo Police Department.
According to the Geneseo Police Department, Michael Green, 20, of Brooklyn and Richard Rovner, 23, of Buffalo are two of Davis' fraternity brothers. Both were charged Monday with tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy in the fifth degree.
Police said Green and Rovner tried to cover Davis' drug use by hiding drugs that were in the room and going as far as ripping a fentanyl patch off of Alex's body.
"They were actually doing this to prevent some negative light from shedding on the fraternity or the members," said Szczesniak.
"They made that conscious decision not to seek immediate medical help for him, and clean the scene up before we even got there. Those few moments may have made a difference in this outcome."
Time Warner Cable News did try and speak to a couple of fraternity members, who did not want to comment. A spokesman for the fraternity said over the phone, "This is not a fraternity matter. It's a legal matter involving two individuals." He said it's now about letting the legal process play out.
Police said this case highlights an important issue: the medical amnesty law in New York State. It basically states that in a medical emergency involving drugs, you should call 911, and under the law, you will not be prosecuted or charged for having those drugs.
"People need to take responsibility for things. If that happens to someone you care about, you need to immediately to call the authorities. You're going to get in way less trouble," said Erin Koehler, a SUNY Geneseo senior.
"You don't want this to happen to your school You hope it never does, but this isn't a Geneseo problem, it's a problem that every college across the U.S. is facing."
Police said they found text messages among the fraternity members telling each other how to handle the scene, which is why Green and Rovner may face even more charges, and there could be more arrests.
"This is a situation where it could've made a difference if they had called earlier, and in that case, these two individuals need to be held accountable," Szczesniak said.
Green and Rovner are scheduled to be in court next Tuesday.