Duquesne officials say they've met all of grieving mom's demands for answers about her son's 2018 death

Duquesne University officials said Thursday that they have met all of the demands of the mother of a student who died after he fell 16 stories from his dorm room in 2018.

Dannielle Brown has been on a hunger strike for 48 days as she seeks answers from the university about the circumstances surrounding the death of her son, Marquis Jaylen Brown.

She was reviewing Duquesne’s latest statement Thursday and didn’t immediately comment.

A running back on the Duquesne football team, Marquis Jaylen Brown died Oct. 4, 2018 — his 21st birthday.

At about 10 p.m. that night, Brown returned to his dorm and his roommate reported that he was behaving erratically, knocking over furniture in his room and slamming against the walls, the university has said.

Others on the 16th floor called campus police. Two responding officers tried to deescalate the situation and get Brown to calm down and sit, according to Duquesne. Brown then surprised the officers by suddenly grabbing a chair, breaking a window and jumping out before anyone could stop him.

Pittsburgh police investigated and closed the case in February 2019. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office ruled Brown’s cause of death as trauma from the fall and the manner of death as undetermined.

A resident of Washington, D.C., Dannielle Brown has been on a hunger strike since July 3 and has been sleeping at Centre Avenue and Crawford Street as she seeks answers about her son’s death.

She was formerly represented by nationally-known civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt.

Duquesne said in a statement Thursday that it respects the concerns people have for her and called her son a well-liked and respected student.

“His tragic loss remains a source of pain for the entire Duquesne family,” said Gabe Welsch, Duquesne’s vice president of marketing and communications.

The university issued the statement to correct “inaccuracies and misperceptions” people have about its dealings with Dannielle Brown.

Duquesne has agreed to provide her with its file on the case and video recordings from inside the dormitory on the night of her son’s death, according to the statement.

“These materials have been ready to be shared for several weeks,” the statement said.

Duquesne said it is required to ask that she and her attorney sign a standard confidentiality agreement.

Duquesne hasn’t agreed to meet with Dannielle Brown and is instead dealing with an attorney representing her because she filed a civil lawsuit against the university in February 2019.

“Once litigation is filed and she is represented by counsel, the university is required to work through her attorney,” Duquesne officials said.

Dannielle Brown has publicly said she isn’t asking Duquesne for money. Duqusene refuted that claim.

Officials said that on July 30, she “made a multimillion-dollar written monetary demand through the lawyer representing her at the time.”

A cash award isn’t justified, the university said, because its officers acted properly.

Duquesne said it has offered to contribute $100,000 to a foundation in honor of her son.

“The offer was in addition to Duquesne’s agreement to continue moving forward expeditiously to obtain body cameras in conjunction with the union, to conduct training programs, and to allow Ms. Brown and her counsel to inspect the Duquesne police files,” the statement said. “Thus far, however, there has been no indication that these offers have been accepted.”