Indiana sorority member’s mysterious off-campus death leads to arrest of 33-year-old rape suspect

The investigation into the mysterious death of a 20-year-old University of Indiana sorority member at an off-campus house earlier this month led to the arrest and new rape charges Tuesday against a 33-year-old man who authorities say has a “violent and extensive criminal history.” 

Eric Montgomery, 33, was arrested without incident during a traffic stop Tuesday on a warrant charging him with rape and furnishing alcohol to a minor following the Aug. 17 death of Avery McMillan. 

Deputies with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department responded to a home owned by Montgomery’s parents at approximately 9:45 a.m. on Aug. 17 to find an unconscious and unresponsive McMillan. 

They administered three doses of Narcan, an emergency treatment for opioid overdoses, but she could not be revived and was pronounced dead. 

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McMillan, a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority’s Alpha Xi chapter, lived at an apartment off-campus in Bloomington, Indiana.

Her roommate told authorities that she and McMillan had gone to a house party the night before where McMillan consumed more alcohol than she intended and grew frazzled and aggressive upon leaving the party together. The roommate attempted to have McMillan stay in the roommate’s car together, but she allegedly refused, and got out without her phone, identification or keys, according to court documents. 

Video surveillance between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. that morning shows McMillan kicking and punching the doors of her apartment building, slapping elevator buttons, and losing her balance.

Montgomery, who placed the 911 call, told deputies at the scene that he met McMillan that morning near campus before the two had sex in the parking garage of her building, smoked marijuana together and drank alcohol before they ended up back at his home on Arlington Road. He said he later found that her condition had deteriorated, prompting him to dial 911. 

A medical examiner is still working to determine McMillan’s exact cause of death. 

Surveillance showed Montgomery’s car entered the parking garage around 5 a.m. before exiting the frame and then leaving again nine minutes later, at which point McMillan is no longer seen wandering. 

Records show Montgomery has several prior felony arrests, including a charge of endangering a person while driving intoxicated in 2019, domestic battery in 2018, burglary and credit card fraud in 2012 and dealing a counterfeit substance in 2011.