Congressman releases statement in Tucker Hipps death lawsuit

U.S. Rep. John Carney, D-Delaware, said Tuesday that he and his wife have asked their son to tell the truth in last year’s death of Tucker Hipps, a 19-year-old Clemson University sophomore.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed Monday alleges that Carney’s son, Samuel, was one of the three members of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity who accompanied Hipps and 25 other pledges on an early-morning run across the I-93 bridge that spans Lake Hartwell on Sept. 22.

Hipps disappeared during the run. His body was later recovered from the lake.

"No one — certainly no parent — can feel anything but sympathy for this family's grief and anger,” said John Carney and his wife, Tracey, in a statement released Tuesday. “We have faith that those trusted with investigative and legal authority will act based on facts. Our advice to Sam since the tragedy in September has been to tell the truth and remember that any detail might help. That continues to be our message to him."

Mark Reardon, an attorney for the Carney family, said Samuel Carney should be cleared in the case.

“(W)hen all the facts are known, the conclusion will be that Sam had no role in the tragic accident causing Tucker’s death,” Reardon said

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Congressman releases statement in Tucker Hipps death lawsuit."