Madison Brooks’ ‘guardian angels’ unveil matching tattoos
The two friends who tried to help fellow LSU student Madison Brooks after she was dumped on the side of a road and fatally struck by a car have been hailed by her mom as her “guardian angels” — as they revealed their tattoos in honor of the 19-year-old.
The Alpha Phi sorority member was allegedly raped after a night out drinking and then tossed out of a car in the early hours of Jan. 15.
LSU senior Beau Adams, 21, was on his way home from work with his friend and fellow LSU senior, Kathryn Devillier, 21, when they spotted another driver stopped on the side of a four-lane highway in Baton Rouge with what they thought was a deer, the pair told Fox News.
When they realized it was a young woman, Adams immediately began performing CPR, which he learned in 8th grade, until emergency responders arrived.
Brooks’ mom, Ashley Baustert, credits the pair’s life-saving attempts for giving her family enough time to say their goodbyes and save her organs for donation.
“They were put there for a reason by the grace of God,” Baustert told Fox of the caring duo, who’ve stayed in touch with her after the tragedy.
“I truly believe that because no other people stopped and did what they did,” she said.
Adams and Devillier now have matching ink of angel wings to honor the sophomore.
Baustert now has a phone listing for Devillier — who lost her own mom in a car crash — as “Madi’s Gaurdian Angel.”
“It gives me a lot of comfort and peace in that Beau and Kathryn were both there. The last few people that Madi saw wasn’t going to be her [alleged] attackers.”
The pals stumbled across the tragedy while heading home from Adams’ shift as a bartender.
They initially thought they were helping a driver who’d struck a deer.
“I was going to pull over to help the guy move the animal so he can get on his way,” Adams said.
“Once we pulled off the side of the shoulder, we realized it was a girl,” they said of Brooks, a fellow student at LSU.
Investigators said Brooks had a blood-alcohol content of 0.319% when she stumbled onto the busy road after being abandoned — nearly four times the legal limit.
The driver, who has been cleared of any wrongdoing, “was just standing there in shock,” Adams said.
“The truck was wrecked. She was on the ground, and I was trying to stay calm in the moment to try to help in any way we could.”
Adams attempted CPR for at least 10 minutes until emergency crews arrived, while Devillier dodged traffic to collect Brooks’ belongings, including her purse.
“Once we got back in the car, I totally freaked out,” Devillier said.
“I lost it. And it’s something we still think about. We drive past the spot every day,” she said, saying they have both also had therapy over it.
“There were so many things you wish you could’ve done and changed, but I’m glad we were at least there for her.”
After her own experience losing her mom, Devillier later contacted Brooks’ mom through social media.
“I wanted to at least let Madison’s mom know she wasn’t in any pain. She wasn’t responsive,” she said.
They both attended Brooks’ funeral and memorial services, and left a cross at the crash scene as a memorial.
Four men were arrested in Brooks’ alleged rape and subsequent death.
Casen Carver, 18, and Desmond Carter, 17, were indicted on third- and first-degree rape charges. Despite his age, Carter will be tried as an adult.
Everett Lee, 28, and Kaivon Washington, 18, are awaiting indictment. Lee was charged with principal to third-degree rape, and Washington was charged with third-degree rape.
In an initial police interview, Carver said that Brooks and Carter met at a bar and Brooks gave “verbal consent” for sex.
In late January, their defense teams presented a brief clip of Brooks getting out of the group’s car, which they argued proved that the mass communications student had not been raped or willfully abandoned.
Baustert told Fox News that she tries her hardest to ignore the legal wranglings, leaving it all to her lawyer.
“I really don’t let myself go there,” the grieving mom said.
“Now, it’s about picking up where Madi left off,” she said of the teen daughter she feels is “with me all the time.”
She registered a star in her daughter’s honor, and devotes her time to the Madison Brooks Foundation, which advocates for organ donation and the safety of young adults.
“She was brave. She was fearless. She was strong, and she stood up for what she believed in,” Baustert said.
“No one could convince her to do or say anything she didn’t feel was important.”
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