Florida Party Hosts Charged After DUI Death

Students held under-age drinking party.

The Florida Highway Patrol has charged two students attending Florida Gulf Coast University with misdemeanors after hosting a party that led the death of an 18-year old freshman. Nicholas Charles Herring and Kevin Michael Curtin were cited under Florida’s ‘Open House Party’ law.

Freshman student Mary Grace Taaffe, 18, was one of approximately 15 mostly underage FGCU students at a party held in the gated community of Pelican Sound Golf and River Club. Shortly after leaving the party some time before 3:00 am Taaffe died in a drunk driving accident when she lost control of her vehicle and hit a group of trees. There were no other vehicles were involved and Taaffe’s blood alcohol content was 0.139%.

The ‘Open House Party’ law states that, “no person having control of any residence shall allow an open house party to take place at said residence if any alcoholic beverage or drug is possessed or consumed at said residence by any minor where the person knows that an alcoholic beverage or drug is in the possession of or being consumed by a minor at said residence and where the person fails to take reasonable steps to prevent the possession or consumption of the alcoholic beverage or drug.” The second degree misdemeanors could result in up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Three other students, Tyler Fry, Brett Griffin, and Brian Cochran, also have charges pending against them.

Florida Gulf Coast University has strict policies against drinking on campus though students openly acknowledge frequent underage drinking parties off campus. The charges brought against the students have initiated much debate. Some feel that Herring and Curtin are responsible because there was under-age drinking. Others feel it was Taaffe who made the decision to drive and thus the accident was her fault. The university has been cooperative in the police investigation.