Officials examine frats’ ties to death

Two UCI fraternities possibly linked to the death of a university student have been banned from hosting events until school officials complete an investigation into their potential responsibility, officials said Monday.

Authorities are still piecing together the mystery surrounding 18-year-old computer science student Raphael Nunez’s death May 7, when he was hit by two cars as he ran across the northbound 405 Freeway at Bristol Street. It has been reported he was headed to a fraternity-hosted party in Costa Mesa that night.

University officials said Nunez’s fraternity, Sigma Pi, and Alpha Epsilon Pi have been suspended from hosting events while school officials, Irvine police and the California Highway Patrol investigates the circumstances around Nunez’s death.

CHP officials said about 11:20 p.m. May 7 they began receiving calls from drivers on the 405 Freeway that a man was lying on the road. Within a minute of receiving the first call, another one came in reporting a person had been hit. Nunez apparently tried to dart across the freeway toward the slow lanes when he was hit by a Honda Civic going 70 mph, officials said. The car’s driver and the passenger were taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries. Nunez was pronounced dead at the scene.

Nunez’s friends were not immediately available for comment Monday.