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ST. LOUIS — The family of a former Southern Illinois University student from Florissant says hazing, harassment and abuse by members of her sorority drove her to suicide, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week.

LaMoree’ Moore was forced by members of Alpha Kappa Alpha to withstand excruciating physical endurance drills while being berated, the suit says. She had to obey commands from members of a fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, and endure psychological and sexual abuse, the suit says.

She was hospitalized for psychiatric distress as a result, the suit says.

“I feel like I’m being watched all the time,� Moore told a friend in a message in October 2019, according to the suit. “It’s like I pledged to be a prisoner, not a sister.�

Moore’s parents are seeking an unspecified amount of damages for her death. The suit, filed Tuesday, names Alpha Kappa Alpha, the fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha, and multiple individual members of both organizations.

Alpha Kappa Alpha is a historically Black sorority known in part by members wearing its signature pink and green colors. Notable alumni include former Vice President Kamala Harris, novelist Toni Morrison, activist Coretta Scott King and singer Alicia Keys.

Spokespeople for Alpha Kappa Alpha and Alpha Phi Alpha did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Moore’s suit is the latest to accuse sororities and fraternities of playing a role in deaths or serious injuries.

In 2019, the parents of a Northwestern University basketball player , accusing its members of hazing her so much that she later died by suicide. In 2022, a University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ student sued after suffering brain damage from being forced to drink an entire bottle of vodka during fraternity hazing.

Moore joined Alpha Kappa Alpha after enrolling at SIU-Carbondale in 2019, the suit says. She wanted to join what she believed was a “respected sisterhood,� the suit says.

Shortly into her initiation, however, Moore started seeing a darker side to the SIU chapter, the suit says.

Members forced initiates to endure grueling physical drills featuring wall sits, planks and carrying heavy bags across the room. Moore complained about being exhausted and sore.

“My head hurts,� she said in one voice memo in March 2019, according to the suit.

In addition to the physical drills, Moore and others were forced to sit in the dark, sometimes blindfolded, while sleep-deprived.

At some point, members of the historically Black fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha joined in, shouting commands, issuing physical challenges and making sexually suggestive remarks, the suit says.

She became anxious and withdrawn, the suit says. She was sexually assaulted twice, the suit says, including once during the sorority initiation process.

Moore withdrew from school in October 2020 and moved back home to St. Louis County.

Even then, the abuse continued in texts and other messages, the suit says. The psychological scars from her experience remained.

Moore’s mother tried reaching out to the sorority to report her daughter’s deterioration, but the suit says she was “blown off.�

In November 2022, Moore, 24 years old then, took a video of herself. She was sobbing.

“What happened to me?� she said.

Five days later, she was found dead in the basement of her mother’s home.

Her family's attorneys, Texas-based Dennis Spurling and Vanessa Gilmore, said her death was the result of people ignoring her calls for help. 

"This lawsuit is not only about justice for Lamoree, it's about preventing this kind of institutional betrayal from happening to other young women," Gilmore said in a press release. 

A hearing in the case has not been set.