- On March 21, 19-year-old Trent Lehrkamp was left unresponsive at a hospital after a party.
- Initial reports said the teen was tortured, but a police investigation found that's not the case.
Five people were arrested Monday in connection to a drunken party that left a Georgia teenager on a ventilator and suffering from "trauma, PTSD, and grief" — but the district attorney who charged the group stressed that initial reports that the teen had been beaten in a hazing incident were not accurate.
Following a drunken party on the night of March 21, an unresponsive Trent Lehrkamp was dumped at a hospital with a blood-alcohol content of .46, covered in spray paint, and smelling of urine, Insider previously reported. He spent several weeks on a ventilator and the FBI joined local law enforcement in investigating the incident, The New York Post reported.
But "he was not tortured," The Post reported Glynn County, Georgia, District Attorney Keith Higgins told reporters on Monday announcing charges against two adults and three teenagers related to the party. "On March 21…Trent voluntarily drank alcohol until he blacked out. No one poured alcohol down his throat or forced him to drink. No one pushed a funnel down his throat."
Police initially characterized the incident as hazing, and local news outlet WSAZ reported photos and video taken during the party, and a previous party several days prior — including video of him being sprayed with a hose while sitting in a white lawn chair — indicated a pattern of abusive behavior.
A GoFundMe page set up by Erika Keller, a friend of Lehrkamp's, alleged in the initial fundraising request that the perpetrators of Lehrkamp's assault "were not friends, but vile and abusive perpetrators who would go on to torture, humiliate, and assault him in inhumane, terrifying ways for hours."
But, when announcing the misdemeanor charges related to the incident, Higgins said Lehrkamp "consented to being washed off with a hose" and was likely saved by the actions taken by the teens present that night, The Post reported.
Higgins added that misinformation about the incident, circulated through social media, contributed to the delay in pressing any charges related to that night, The Brunswick News reported.
In a statement emailed to Insider, Glynn County Police Department officials indicated the investigation will remain ongoing "until all leads have been exhausted."
Representatives for Higgins did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
Rooker Hobby and two unnamed juveniles face charges related to that night, though not for their actions toward Lehrkamp. Hobby, a 17-year-old, was charged with battery for actions unrelated to Lehrkamp against a different victim, The Post reported.
One of the younger teens was charged with simple battery and trespassing, while the other faces charges of possession and use of drug-related objects, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Carlton and Lauren Strother were charged with maintaining a disorderly house and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the outlet.
"Rooker Hobby and the juveniles that accompanied him just didn't drop him off at the outside," Higgins said, per The Post. "They went inside, got medical personnel to come outside and take him in so that he could get the medical care that he needed. They then left their correct names and telephone numbers before leaving."
In a statement posted to the GoFundMe page on Sunday, prior to the charges being announced, Lehrkamp — who Insider previously reported is receiving out-of-state mental and physical health care — said, "I know that I'm not a cat with nine lives. I look at it like baseball, three strikes and you're out. I want to be alive. I want to be with my family," adding that he's "on a track that deals with trauma, PTSD, and grief."
"I want to get well," Lehrkamp wrote. "I want y'all to be proud of me."
Since the fundraiser was posted, Keller has raised $133,000 with Lehrkamp listed as a beneficiary. Keller and Lehrkamp did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.