A U.S. Secret Service agent has been arrested on five felony charges, including attempted manslaughter with a deadly weapon, after authorities say he took part in fraternity hazing “rituals” that left two men with life-threatening injuries.
Marquez Pinder, a 29-year-old special agent assigned to the Secret Service’s Miami Field Office, was ordered to remain under house arrest and wear a GPS monitoring device.
According to an affidavit filed in the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Pinder served as the “dean of pledges” during four hazing sessions tied to a Miami chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. The sessions allegedly lasted for hours, and investigators say Pinder was involved in the hazing of two men seeking to join the fraternity.
Marquez Pinder was arrested by the Sweetwater Police Department after authorities said he was involved in a nearly fatal hazing incident. (Miami-Dade Corrections)
Court records say the two victims were “paddled” and hit with “canes” by Pinder and two other fraternity members. During the first hazing session, one of the men reported that he was “urinating blood,” but his concerns were allegedly “dismissed” by the fraternity, according to the records.
Several days later, that victim had to be intubated at a hospital while receiving “critical care to prevent further physical deterioration and death,” a law enforcement officer wrote in a sworn statement.
The second victim was treated for “blackened” and “necrotic” tissue on his buttocks caused by the beating, court documents state. An affidavit says “substantial portions of skin and soft tissue” had to be surgically removed, and the victim later required “extensive skin grafts to cover the areas.”
A drone view shows the downtown Miami skyline on April 16, 2025. Marquez Pinder is a special agent assigned to the Secret Service’s Miami Field Office. (REUTERS/Marco Bello)
His “mobility and quality of life have been significantly impacted,” a law enforcement officer wrote. And without emergency medical care, “his injuries would have resulted in renal failure leading to death.”
The alleged hazing occurred every day April 1-4 at two different residences in Miami-Dade County, court records show.
During the meetings, the two victims were tested with questions about the fraternity and its history, according to the affidavit. Victims told law enforcement officers that when they failed to answer a question correctly, they were placed in what they called a “stress position,” the affidavit shows.
They described the “stress position” as a half-squat with one arm pointed forward. While in that position, the victims said they were “struck on their buttocks with a paddle.” One of the victims said that, before the hazing, he was told that “if he ever felt that he was reaching his physical limit,” he should tell Pinder, his “dean of pledges,” officers reported. He said he was told that indications of reaching that limit might include urinating blood or feeling that he was going to pass out, according to the affidavit.
Investigators reported they’d reviewed messages between fraternity members about the need for cleaning supplies to “mop up sweat and blood” from the hazing. After four days of “testing” to become members of the fraternity, one victim sought emergency medical treatment because his “health continued to deteriorate, and he began to suffer from vomiting, fevers, and immense pain on his buttocks,” officers reported.
Marquez Pinder, who works in the Miami Field Office, has been employed with the U.S. Secret Service since September 2023, an agency spokesperson told INC News. Pinder is currently on administrative leave. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service)
Pinder now faces five felony charges, including two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, two counts of attempted manslaughter with a deadly weapon and one count of hazing with a deadly weapon.
Jared James and Elijah Dyous, who allegedly helped in the hazing, face the same charges, court records show.
Jared James faces five felony charges after allegedly hazing two prospective fraternity members. (Miami-Dade Corrections)
The three men could not be reached for comment. An attorney reportedly representing Pinder did not respond to a request for comment by INC News.
Elijah Dyous was arrested in an alleged Miami hazing incident. (Broward County Sheriff’s Office)
Pinder has been employed with the U.S. Secret Service since September 2023, an agency spokesperson told INC News. Pinder is currently on administrative leave.
“The United States Secret Service takes seriously any criminal misconduct allegations involving one of our employees,” said Michael Townsend, special agent in charge of the Secret Service Miami Field Office. “We are fully cooperating with the investigation.”
“The Secret Service remains committed to accountability, professionalism, and integrity, and any misconduct will be addressed swiftly and appropriately upon completion of the investigative and judicial process.”
The Secret Servie said it is “fully cooperating with the investigation.” (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)
Kappa Alpha Psi is described on the organization’s website as a “historically African-American fraternity.” The national organization was founded in 1911.
The Richmond-Perrine Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi is not affiliated with the University of Miami, Megan Afkham, assistant vice president of university communications, told INC News in an email.
One of the victims is a University of Miami School of Law student, Afkham said, but the chapter is not connected to the university or its undergraduate chapter.
In a written statement issued by the national Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Jimmy McMikle, the organization’s national president, said the organization “maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy on hazing.”
