A criminal case related to the 2024 death of an 18-year-old college football player can proceed against one of his former coaches, a Pennsylvania judge ruled Friday.
Former Bucknell strength and conditioning coach Mark Kulbis will stand trial for felony aggravated hazing and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and hazing for the death of 18-year-old Calvin ‘CJ’ Dickey Jr.
‘This was an important step in the prosecution process and in our continued pursuit of justice for a young man who died tragically due to the defendant’s conduct,’ Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a department statement.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Jaime Keating will prosecute the case against Kulbis, who has denied culpability in the tragedy through his attorney.
Dickey was a freshman in July 2024 when Kulbis told him and other football players to do 100 ‘up-downs,’ also known as ‘burpees,’ along with full-body plank drills, according to the attorney general’s office. Dickey had sickle-cell trait, a medical condition that can increase the risk of serious injury or death following extreme exertion.
‘We’re at the point where we’re just glad that someone is being held responsible for our son’s death,’ Calvin Dickey Sr., of Land O’ Lakes, Florida, told The Associated Press in a phone interview when charges were initially filed in July. ‘We just want to see the process through, and we’re going to leave it to the attorney general to continue following the evidence.’