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Dixie Heights graduate, Georgetown football player dies after fraternity party injury

Colson Machlitt would have turned 19 on Friday
Posted at 9:05 PM, Aug 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-23 18:19:34-04

GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- He was a "yes-ma’am, no-ma’am" kind of kid, a former Dixie Heights football player who helped the team in its run at the state championship a few years ago.

On Monday, less than a week before his 19th birthday, Colson Machlitt died at University of Kentucky Hospital.

The sophomore defensive lineman for Georgetown College was injured at a Lambda Chi fraternity party over the weekend, according to Lex 18. He was trying to jump from a third-floor stairwell to a second-floor landing, but he fell and hit his head.

Jim Allison, Georgetown College media relations, disputed reports there was a party taking place at the fraternity. He said Machlitt was visiting a friend at the house, but wasn't a member of the fraternity or a pledge.

"He was a delightful young man," said Georgetown football coach Bill Cronin, who visited Machlitt in the hospital. "A very hard worker, good kid, did well in school. Everybody liked him."

Captain Swanigan of the Georgetown Police Department said alcohol appears to have been in a factor in Machlitt’s death. But Allison said "there was nothing to indicate that anyone was providing alcohol to him.”

The fraternity's international headquarters announced Tuesday that the Georgetown chapter would be placed on "limited operations."

"Limited operations serve as a temporary cease and desist during the investigation period and restricts all formal activities," a statement from the organization said.

“I hope kids can learn something from this whole thing," Cronin said. "(His) mom and dad thought they were coming down here just for stitches."

Colson Machlitt, in the gray-and-black striped sweater, played football at Dixie Heights High School. Photo provided.

Machlitt's father was coach of Dixie Heights' freshman football team, and his sister is a student at the school.

"He was a great young man," Kenton County Schools spokeswoman Jess Dykes said. "He was part of a great football team that went here. I remember speaking with him when the superintendent visited with that team, and he was a 'yes-ma’am, no-ma’am' great kid."

She said Machlitt's death is a loss for the whole Dixie Heights community.

"We’ve had the crisis team out here," she said. "Just trying to think of ways to support the students and the community as well as his family."