DA: No criminal conduct in death of Weston lacrosse player

EASTON, Pa. — A young Massachusetts man who died after a college party was not the victim of 'criminality', according to district attorney in Pennsylvania..

A coroner said the freshman lacrosse player from Weston who was found unconscious at Lafayette College last week died from blunt force head injuries.

Police said 19-year-old McCrae Williams was involved in a "chain of events" that began Saturday and ended with his death at a hospital Monday afternoon.

"I have no evidence of criminal conduct at this point," Northampton County Pennsylvania District Attorney John Morganelli said, after laying out the timeline of Williams' weekend. "Based on what we see so far ... there is a strong likelihood that when Mr. Williams crashed to the floor, he sustained a serious head injury."

Williams was at a party on Friday night, Sept. 8, drinking alcohol in his dorm room. There were no reports of physical altercations at that time.

People told investigators he was intoxicated that night, but seemed okay and 'talkative.'

Williams' friends went to a party on High Street, but investigators can't confirm if he was there.

Police say Williams was fine Saturday morning, given the activity from his phone, the district attorney said.

"Are you drinking now," read a text sent to Williams.

"Just started," Williams is said to have replied.

Williams went to a party that night, where 50-80 people were drinking beer out of cups, according to investigators.

Police say he doesn't appear to have been the victim of hazing.

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The head of Noble and Greenough, the boarding school that Williams graduated from, said last week he died from injuries sustained in a fall.

The woman who was alone with Williams told investigators she heard a loud sound and found Williams on the ground.

Students told police they put him in bed with a backpack on his back so he couldn't roll over and checked on him several times.

Students say they tried to wake Williams up Sunday afternoon, but he told them he wanted to sleep more. Finally, students decided he needed medical attention and began to dress him and take him to a hospital -- he was allegedly combative.

Police say Williams was pronounced dead Monday at the hospital.

"At this time, in terms of the investigation ... all of the information, which we have gotten from students who were cooperative, .... corroborates each other," said Morganelli. "There is no evidence to show that these kids knew [a head injury] was the case."

In a statement to Boston 25 News, Chris Williams, McCrae's father, said he doesn't agree with the way Morganelli released the details of the investigation so soon.

"I find his actions highly inappropriate…. to explain the facts of the case to all those people who have yet to be interviewed," he said.  "He explains he only deals in facts and then went on and speculated.”

Lehigh County coroner Scott Grim says an autopsy on Williams was completed Wednesday, and once toxicology test results are in, he'll rule on the manner of death.

"There have been numerous reports in the media ... which we feel was not accurate," Morganelli said. "That he was hit in the head with a bottle, which was not accurate; that he fell out of a window, which was not accurate."

Morganelli said he refused to 'speculate' as to whether something might have kept his friends from calling police sooner.

MORE: Coroner: College student died of head injuries

The Associated Press Contributed to this report. 

Cox Media Group