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Students walk in and out of the College of Charleston’s Glenn McConnell Residence Hall along Wentworth Street on April 12, 2022, in Charleston. Gavin McIntyre/Staff

The College of Charleston community is grieving the death earlier this week of a first-year student found unresponsive inside an on-campus dormitory.

Benjamin B. Wills III died April 11 inside the Glenn McConnell Residence Hall on Wentworth Street, Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O'Neal said. The 19-year-old's cause of death is still pending.

Friends and family described Wills on social media as a good-natured young man who was quick to smile or crack a joke.

One friend remembered Wills, who was from Bethesda, Md., as a "bright light." He was "always the funniest person in the room," another wrote.

Maggie Wills described her brother as a "gentle giant" and a "protector." He was someone who made sure everyone around him was happy. 

"Anyone who was lucky enough to have Ben in their life knew the special way he was able to make you know he cared about you," she said. 

Wills was just weeks away from completing his first year of college but had already made strong connections across campus, Executive Vice President for Student Affairs Alicia Caudill wrote in an email addressed to the college community.

He will be "deeply missed" by friends in his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, in his residence hall and in his classes, Caudill wrote. 

Authorities responded around 10:30 a.m. Monday to a suite inside the McConnell Residence Hall, according an incident report. Charleston police officers and county paramedics were the first to arrive, followed by officers from the college's public safety department.

They found six other students in the suite, as well as a resident assistant who had attempted to give Wills CPR, the report states. 

Witnesses told police someone "ran for help" and notified the resident advisor of a medical emergency. Wills had been found that morning unconscious and not breathing, the report states. He was pronounced dead just before 11 a.m.

Chip Searson, chief of police, fire and EMS for the college, notified the State Law Enforcement Division of Wills' death, as is required by South Carolina's Jessica Horton Act. The act is named for an 18-year-old student who died after falling from a sixth-story dorm window in 2002 at the University of South Carolina.

A college or university's campus police chief must immediately notify SLED if a death occurs on the institution's property under the law. SLED agents are then appointed as the lead investigators. 

Agents arrived from Columbia around noon, according to the incident report. A search warrant was executed at the suite where Wills was found.

Renée Wunderlich, a SLED spokeswoman, said no additional information would be made available, citing the ongoing investigation.

Monica Ceja, a Pi Kappa Phi spokeswoman, wrote in an email April 13 that the national fraternal organization had "no information" to believe Wills' death was related to any chapter activities.

The organization, which was founded in 1904 at the College of Charleston, extended its "most sincere sympathies" to Wills' family, fraternity brothers and friends, Ceja wrote.

Maggie Wills said the family was starting a foundation in her brother's name to continue his legacy of generosity and compassion. 

Call Jocelyn Grzeszczak at 843-323-9175. Follow her on Twitter at @jocgrz.

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