Nineteen-year-old Trent Lehrkamp was dropped off at a Georgia hospital on March 21 – he was heavily intoxicated, covered in urine, and barely breathing at the time – following a night out at his friend’s house. On April 17, roughly a month after he was admitted into the hospital, five people are facing charges.
Those being charged include two adults – James C. Strother, 46, and Lauren C. Strother, 57 – and three teenagers – one of which is being identified as 17-year-old Rooker Hobby. The Strothers are the parents of one of Trent’s friends and own the house where the events occurred prior to his hospital arrival.
NEW: Carlton and Lauren Strother have been booked into the Glynn County jail on charges of maintaining a disorderly house and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Both charges are misdemeanors in Georgia. #TrentLehrkamp @wsav @NewsNation pic.twitter.com/pEoIbPAFvW
— Brett Buffington (@BrettWSAV) April 17, 2023
James and Lauren are facing two misdemeanor charges in the incident – maintaining a disorderly house and contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a minor. Hobby, who is considered an adult in the court of law, is being charged with misdemeanor battery for a separate incident involving another victim.
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Aside from the Strothers and Hobby, two other teenagers are facing misdemeanor charges in relation to the investigation – one is facing simple battery and criminal trespass charges, while the other is facing a possession and use of drug-related objects charge. Neither of those two teenagers has been identified.
#BREAKING Carlton and Laurn Strother have been arrested for contributing to a disorderly house and contributing to the deliberately of a minor. Edward Hobby has been charged with battery. Two juveniles have also charged. @wsav @NewsNation #TrentLehrkamp pic.twitter.com/TxawskTZDN
— Brett Buffington (@BrettWSAV) April 17, 2023
“This is an incident that could have been avoided if parents are a little bit more attentive to what’s going on in their house, being mindful that teens can get their hands on alcohol and some folks do use illegal narcotics,” said Glynn County interim Police Chief O’Neal Jackson – who is glad an arrest was made.
#JusticeForTrent | #TrentLehrkamp | Arrest has been made in connection to his case. The DA felt the need to address the misinformation that has been circulating on SM. Even though I'm glad that some arrest has been made—
— ????L̤̮E̤̮G̤̮????️C̤̮Y̤̮???? (@iamlegacy23) April 17, 2023
The DA stated that the “friends” who took Trent to the… pic.twitter.com/G1rQ7NgU3V
While the Strothers and Hobby have posted bail since their arrests and are currently out of jail, they’re all facing a maximum of 12 months in prison and a fine as large as $1,000. The potential punishments for both juveniles have not been revealed, but they’ll be decided in juvenile court and will be revealed at a later time.
Police Fighting Misinformation Related to Trent Lehrkamp
When the incident involving Trent Lehrkamp made national headlines, many people took to social media to share their own thoughts, opinions, assumptions, and conspiracies about what happened and what took place. Many in the community grew angry that no arrests had been made weeks after the incident.
District Attorney Keith Higgins today said Trent Lehrkamp volunteered to get drunk, and essentially asked for everything that happened to him. If Trent's BAC was .464 when he got to the hospital when was he capable of consent? #TrentLehrkamp pic.twitter.com/r2GX64So8a
— Brett Buffington (@BrettWSAV) April 17, 2023
The reasoning behind the delay? According to Keith Higgins, district attorney for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, investigators were coming across a lot of misinformation being spread about the case as a result of comments made on social media. A lot of what we thought we knew about the incident wasn’t true.
While it was confirmed that one of the juveniles committed ‘certain acts’ against Trent Lehrkamp, investigators have also confirmed that Trent wasn’t autistic, wasn’t tortured, wasn’t forced to drink alcohol, wasn’t defecated or urinated on, and gave consent to being washed off by a hose after an ‘egg fight.’
The DA says investigators found Trent volunteered to be hosed off, wasn’t forced to drink, was in an egg fight, voluntarily drank alcohol, wasn’t urinated on, wasn’t beaten, wasn’t simply dropped off at the hospital. #TrentLehrkamp @wsav @NewsNation pic.twitter.com/CMF5i8bvm0
— Brett Buffington (@BrettWSAV) April 17, 2023
“To get to the truth, an investigation must be thorough and leave no stone left unturned. The length of time that the investigation has taken has been in large part due to all of the misinformation that has been put out on social media in particular and the need to address it,” said Higgins in a press conference.
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Higgins also confirmed that Trent wasn’t beaten, choked, or forced to pour acid down his throat. Chief Jackson added that the misinformation was ‘quite damaging’ to the reputation of the families involved, but said the investigation continues – though he didn’t reveal whether more arrests will be made in the future.
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