Death of Tim Piazza

The death of Tim Piazza occurred on February 4, 2017. Piazza's death was the result of a falling accident that occurred on February 2, 2017, at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Hazing incident: Timothy John Piazza was a 19-year-old sophomore engineering student at Pennsylvania State University. He was a pledge of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at the university. On the night of February 2, 2017, while undergoing hazing rituals for the fraternity, Piazza drank copious amounts of alcohol without eating much prior to the scheduled party, in a short time span in an obstacle course called "The Gauntlet". At the party, the course required each pledge to enter the house where they drank from a bottle of vodka, ran down the hall where they chugged a beer and finished the gauntlet by drinking from a bag of wine. Each member was aware of their choice to partake in the ritual that has been done for decades. This rapid intoxication had a profound and dangerous effect on his motor skills, causing him to slip while descending the staircase to the basement of the Beta house and trying to get around girls sitting on the staircase. The effects of intoxication would have rendered him unable to stop or react to the damage of the fall, even if he had sensed the danger. The initial fall knocked Timothy unconscious requiring 4 fraternity members to carry him to a couch upstairs. Surveillance cameras captured the formation of a large bruise on his left abdomen, which given the relatively distant placement of the camera, would have made the injury unmistakably present to the people carrying him. He was then placed on a couch until he regained consciousness, his injuries causing concern to a newly initiated brother who feared Timothy was severely injured. The brother tried to convince fellow fraternity members that Timothy could have a concussion and needed immediate medical help, but was ignored. Some time later, Piazza regained consciousness and rolled off the couch. Three brothers in the general area picked him up and "slammed" him back onto the couch. Security footage revealed brothers slapping him in the face, punching him in the stomach and pouring beer on him in order to initiate a response from Piazza. However, Piazza remained unconscious and unresponsive. He rolled off the couch again and curled his body, clutching his abdomen. In the early morning of February 3, 2017, Piazza tried to pick himself up but once he lifted into a standing position, fell backwards. He continued to pick himself up only to repeatedly fall back down. Once he was finally able to maintain balance, he staggered toward the lobby area of the house, but fell again head first into an iron railing, and landed on a stone floor, likely incurring serious head trauma. Timothy got up and tried to get to the front door but fell head first into it, being knocked unconscious yet again. He tried once more to descend the basement stairs, but fell down again, and remained at the base of the stairs, until being discovered by a number of Beta brothers several hours later behind the bar in the basement cold and breathing rapidly. It was at this point that he was carried upstairs. After 40 minutes of debating on what the next step should be, the conclusion was made that Piazza's injuries were indeed serious, and that he would require medical attention. Before emergency assistance arrived, the brothers wiped blood from his face and attempted to dress him, however Piazza's body was too rigid to successfully put clothes on. Roughly twelve hours after his initial fall, emergency services were summoned but not informed that the fall had occurred the night before. Piazza was brought to Mount Nittany Medical center, but was quickly transported to Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center due to the severity of his injuries. Upon arrival, Piazza was rushed into surgery, where he was discovered to have a ruptured spleen and class IV hemorrhagic shock. His brain had swelled to the point that roughly half of his skull had to be removed to relieve the pressure. The surgeons attempting to save Timothy's life deemed the injuries to likely be nonrecoverable, and Timothy was pronounced dead in the early morning of February 4, 2017. Piazza is estimated to have had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of nearly .40 on the night of the hazing incident. Criminal prosecutions: The Piazza case resulted in one of the largest hazing prosecutions in the nation's history On May 5, 2017, following a grand jury investigation, eighteen members of the fraternity were charged in connection with Piazza's death: eight were charged with involuntary manslaughter and the rest with other offenses, including hazing. In addition to the fraternity brothers, the Beta Theta Pi fraternity itself was also charged. Its Penn State fraternity branch was closed after its president ordered it banned from campus indefinitely. Combined, the fraternity and its eighteen members are facing a total of more than 850 criminal charges. Alleged perpetrator- Prosecutors have filed the following charges in relation to this crime and its cover-up: -Daniel Casey (age 19): two-hundred-and-one counts, including involuntary manslaughter -Brendan Young (age 21): two hundred counts, including involuntary manslaughter -Jonah Neuman (age 19): seventy-nine counts, including involuntary manslaughter -Joe Sala (age 19): fifty-seven counts, including involuntary manslaughter -Michael Bonatucci (age 19): fifty-six counts, including involuntary manslaughter -Gary Dibileo (age 21): over 50 counts, including involuntary manslaughter -Nick Kubera (age 19): over 50 counts, including involuntary manslaughter -Luke Visser (age 19): over 50 counts, including involuntary manslaughter -Craig Heimer (age 21): fifty-two counts, including reckless endangerment -Lars Kenyon (age 19): fifty-two counts, including reckless endangerment -Michael Schiavone (age 21): fifty-two counts, including reckless endangerment -Parker Yochim (age 19): fifty-two counts, including reckless endangerment -Braxton Becker (age 20): one count of tampering with evidence -Joseph Ems (age 20): one count of reckless endangerment (charges eventually dropped) -Ryan Foster (age 21): one count of tampering with evidence -Edward Gilmartin (age 20): one count of tampering with evidence -Ryan McCann (age 22): one count of tampering with evidence -Lucas Rockwell (age 21): one count of tampering with evidence Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Beta Theta Pi - Alpha Upsilon et. al.: On August 11, 2017, on the fifth day of the preliminary hearing, it was announced by lead investigators that basement footage from the bid acceptance on February 2, 2017, had in fact been deleted by a defendant already charged in the case. Lead prosecutor Stacy Parks Miller noted that additional charges would have to be filed as a result of this finding. That same day, defense attorneys for a number of the defendants started to put blame on Tim Bream, the Penn State Nittany Lions football head athletic trainer and Beta Theta Pi live-in advisor. He was present during the night of Tim Piazza's bid acceptance, although he has never been charged in the case. After unsuccessful attempts by attorneys to have Tim Bream subpoenaed, the judge in the case ordered that Tim Bream have his own hearing on possible contempt of court and avoiding his subpoena.