BATON ROUGE - A defendant facing a rape accusation following the death of Madison Brooks in 2023 officially waived his right to a jury trial, meaning his fate will be decided by a judge.

The Investigative Unit reported last week that Carver would request his case to heard by Judge Gail Horne Ray. 

Casen Carver and three others were accused after Brooks died following a night out at Reggie's Bar in Tigerland. 

The judge’s son, Nelson Dan Taylor Jr., is a serial rapist, convicted at age 17 after admitting to a series of assaults. The former Baton Rouge Magnet High School track star was accused of breaking into the homes of six girls between October 1995 and April 1996 and raping them. Taylor is also currently facing an obscenity charge for exposing himself to a motel housekeeper last year.

Sources also confirmed to WBRZ that the District Attorney's office will seek to have Ray recused after she allegedly reviewed footage that the First Circuit said was inadmissible. 

The trial is set to take place Dec. 1.