The family of the Arizona State University hockey player who remains on life support after collapsing during an Aug. 20 training exercise is pleading with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for a criminal investigation.
The request from Matthew Mayich's family attorney comes more three weeks after he first called out the university investigating itself and asked administrators to turn the case over to outside law enforcement agencies.
"We have gotten no response," Phoenix lawyer Robert Carey told The Arizona Republic on Sept. 24.
He has accused the university of trying to "whitewash" the circumstances of the near-fatal workout and of repeated policy violations by the coaching staff before, during and after Mayich collapsed.
In his six-page letter
to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, Carey noted that the ASU Police Department was tasked with investigating the incident. He questioned whether the department can remain impartial as it "answers to the administration."
Carey instead wants Mitchell's office to open its own investigation, take over the evidence in the case and exercise subpoena powers to question those involved.
"The family is not asking you to prejudge anyone," he wrote. "They are asking that the question of criminal responsibility for what happened to their son be answered by someone who does not report to the people who may bear it."
ASU Senior Vice President James Rund released a preliminary report on Aug. 22 showing that hockey coaches failed to follow the university's heat-related guidelines and policies for vetting an ex-Green Beret guest trainer involved in the near-fatal outdoor workout.
The next day, reporters across the country pressed ASU head hockey coach Greg Powers in what was his first public question-and-answer session since the incident. Avoiding questions, he declined to say whether he or anyone else should be held accountable for the decisions before, during and after the workout.
"The request speaks for itself," Carey told The Arizona Republic. "Rund's report speaks as to why the county attorney is needed here."
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office confirmed receiving the letter on Sept. 25 and said it is under review.
"It is not something we can comment on," Erin Pellett, MCAO spokesperson, said.
Rund's report confirmed much of The Republic's ongoing investigation, which found multiple potential policy violations connected to the workout and Mayich's collapse. The school did not appear to follow its own rules designed to protect students from exertional heat illness
Emergency guidelines for treating heat illness call for immediate immersion in ice water, but the university found Mayich was left lying on the ground as staff draped him in wet towels.
The Republic also found the volunteer trainer did not go through the required vetting process or sign standard forms before starting drills on the first day of the 2026 semester. Ex-Green Beret Tim Ziesel was allowed to lead the workout based on a handshake agreement with Powers and other staff members, Ziesel's attorney said.
"Whether the people who designed, approved, and ran this session were aware of those risks and chose to disregard them, and whether the punitive structure of the session reflects exactly that disregard, are questions only an investigation with subpoena power can answer," Carey wrote in his letter.
Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X @robertanglen.
Shawn Raymundo covers Scottsdale and Maricopa County. Reach him at sraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Family of ASU hockey player pleads for criminal investigation
