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Madison Brooks’ Mom Applauds ‘Guardian Angel’ LSU Students Who Tried Saving Daughter
“They were put there for a reason by the grace of God,” Ashley Baustert, Madison Brooks’ mom said of her daughters’ friends, Beau Adams and Kathryn Devillier.
The mother of a Louisiana State University student who was was raped and fatally struck by a motorist earlier this year, hailed the two friends who tried to save her life as “guardian angels.”
Warning: This story deals with sexual assault.
Louisiana State University sophomore Madison Brooks, 19, died in January after she was sexually assaulted and dumped on the side of a dark highway where she was hit and killed by a rideshare driver following a night out with friends.
Prior to Brooks' death, two students, 21-year-old seniors Beau Adams and Kathryn Devillier, stopped on the side of the road to investigate the aftermath of the deadly crash. The student’s mother has since hailed their actions, prior to emergency personnel arriving at the scene, as heroic.
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“They were put there for a reason by the grace of God,” Ashley Baustert, Madison Brooks’ mom, told Fox News Digital of Adams and Devillier. “I truly believe that because no other people stopped and did what they did.
Adams and Devillier pulled over alongside a Baton Rouge highway on Jan. 16 shortly before 3 a.m. after they saw another vehicle stopped on the roadway’s shoulder. At first, the two students thought the car in question had hit an animal, possibly a deer, per Fox News.
“I was going to pull over to help the guy move the animal so he can get on his way,” Adams said, the outlet reported. “Once we pulled off the side of the shoulder, we realized it was a girl.”
After discovering Brooks had been hit by a car, Adams, who was coming home from a work shift as a bartender, initiated emergency life-saving procedures on her as the rideshare driver called emergency services. He provided CPR until paramedics arrived, while Devillier gathered Brooks' belongings, which had been scattered across the road.
Medical staff later determined Brooks’ blood alcohol concentration was determined to be .319 percent, which is almost four times the legal limit to drive. (The bar where Brooks and the men were previously sighted at has since had their liquor license suspended in light of alleged underage drinking, according to NBC affiliate WDSU.)
Kaivon Washington, 18; Washington’s uncle Everett Lee, 28; and friend Casen Carver, 18, as well as an unnamed 17-year-old minor were arrested in relation to Brooks’ alleged sexual assault, according to an arrest affidavit previously obtained by Oxygen.com. Washington and the minor are facing third-degree rape charges since Brooks' BAC levels were well above the legal limit, meaning she legally could not consent to engage in sexual activity. Carver and Washington’s cousin, Lee, are charged with being principles to the rape.
The rideshare driver has been cleared of wrongdoing by police.
The group of men were allegedly seen leaving a Baton Rouge bar with Brooks on the night of the incident. Police say the unidentified minor and Washington both raped Brooks in a vehicle after the group had offered to drive her home. They later dropped the inebriated sophomore on the side of the road, which has no sidewalks or streetlights, according to Fox News.
Baustert was adamant that Adams’ actions also allowed her family to say a final goodbye as well as preserve her organs for donation, per the New York Post.
“It gives me a lot of comfort and peace in that Beau and Kathryn were both there,” Baustert added. "The last few people that Madi saw wasn’t going to be her [alleged] attackers.”
Baustert made the comments as the two LSU students unveiled new tattoos commemorating the late19-year-old. Adams and Devillier got matching tattoos on their arms that feature a pair of black angel wings in memory of Brooks.
The grieving parent now has Devillier’s number saved in her phone under “Madi’s Guardian Angel.” Adams and Devillier, who lost her own mother in a fatal car crash, have remained in touch with Baustert, sharing that they even attended her funeral services.
“Once we got back in the car, I totally freaked out,” Devillier said, reflecting on the moments after they’d come across Brooks. “I lost it. And it’s something we still think about. We drive past the spot every day.”
Devillier said both she and Adams in therapy following the tragic incident.
“There were so many things you wish you could’ve done and changed, but I’m glad we were at least there for her,” she continued.
Brooks’ sorority also remembered her as a “hero” in an official statement shared to their website.
“She was brave,” Baustert said. “She was fearless. She was strong, and she stood up for what she believed in...No one could convince her to do or say anything she didn’t feel was important.”
