Inset: Timothy Piazza (Kearns Funeral Home). Background: Pennsylvania State University's shuttered Beta Theta Pi fraternity house in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File).
Two former Pennsylvania State University fraternity leaders pleaded guilty to their roles in the hazing death of a fellow student who died from a fatal fall down steps after consuming 18 alcoholic drinks.
Brendan Young, 28, and Daniel Casey, 27, entered their pleas to 14 counts of hazing and one count of reckless endangerment — all misdemeanors — in the death of Timothy Piazza, 19, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office announced in a news release.
"There should be no discussion of this case without recognizing the tragic loss of life and resulting devastation for Mr. Piazza's family and friends," Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said in the release. "Mr. Piazza was simply seeking to join a social organization for the benefits of community and shared experiences, as so many university students do. Most of those students go on to successful lives and careers — basic expectations following college which Mr. Piazza never had the opportunity to experience."
Piazza died after he consumed vast amounts of alcohol during a Beta Theta Pi fraternity house initiation event in February 2017. He was among 14 initiates taking part in a "gauntlet of drinking games" where fraternity members pushed, served and poured drinks onto pledges as they ran through the obstacle course, authorities said. After the running of the gauntlet, a frat member made underage fraternity pledges, including Piazza, drink from a bottle of vodka, authorities said. Piazza died on Feb. 4, 2017, after falling down basement steps.
Young, the fraternity president, and Casey, the vice president and pledge master, were among 26 defendants charged in the case, 23 of whom have pleaded guilty to charges of hazing and furnishing alcohol to minors.
As Law&Crime reported, citing a grand jury report, a fraternity brother who suggested they get Piazza medical attention got shoved into a wall. When he suggested it again later, he was allegedly told that other members were biology and kinesiology majors, so his opinion meant less.
Penn State revoked the fraternity's charter and implemented a permanent ban over the incident. In a statement, Penn State President Eric Barron called the details of the events leading up to the sophomore's death "heart-wrenching and incomprehensible."
"The alleged details in the grand jury presentment, which suggest the inhumane treatment of a student forced through hazing to consume dangerous amounts of alcohol and endure hours of suffering, are sickening and difficult to understand," he said. "It is numbing how an atmosphere that endangers the well-being and safety of another person could occur within an organization that prided itself on commitment to each other and to its community."
In 2021, Piazza's family helped pass the "Timothy Piazza Anti — Hazing Law," which includes a felony-grade offense when serious injury or death results in the state.
"Our son, Tim Piazza, died more than four years ago as a result of Fraternity hazing at Penn State University," Jim and Evelyn Piazza said in a statement. "Since then, we along with other parents of hazing victims have worked to eradicate hazing on college campuses. We are grateful to Senator Kip Bateman for introducing this legislation and Governor Murphy and the other senators and assemblymen and women for supporting the New Jersey anti-hazing law bearing Tim's name. This law will be the stiffest in the country and will hopefully deter this bad behavior and hold those accountable who choose to put someone's well-being and/or life at risk as part of an initiation ritual."
Young and Casey are set to be sentenced on Oct. 1.
