Eighteen members of a now-shuttered fraternity at Penn State University and the frat itself are facing criminal charges in the death of a student who was fatally injured in a fall during an alcohol-fueled pledge night. We have also seen a rise in the intensity of excessive drinking and hazing at Penn State and elsewhere, despite more than a decade of focus and the introduction of educational and other programs, as well as policies that clearly spell out consequences.
Daniel Casey, 19, of Ronkonkoma, one of 18 Penn State fraternity brothers charged in connection with the death of Timothy Piazza, 19, is alleged to have directed efforts to cover up evidence, according to court records.
Kordel Davis speaks to ABC News on Sunday about Piazza's February death.
. The local district attorney's office report the official cause of death as traumatic brain injury from several falls. Doctors say his blood alcohol level when he entered hospital was.40, five times the legal limit for driving in most states. The statement claims that he would be rendered "stuporous" and "life-threatening".The fraternity house had surveillance cameras and footage of that night was available to the grand jury. Those findings, which Penn State's president calls "sickening", were released Friday. A game played at the party was "run the gauntlet" wherein pledges would have to run from station to station.
"The objective of the gauntlet is to get the pledges drunk in a very short amount of time", the statement said.
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The remaining defendants face arraignment early this week, the district attorney's office said Friday. There were people that viewed injuries to his head. They let him lie on a couch. They tried to coax him up, but he did not respond. In the morning ... this young man fell again down those stairs and he laid at the bottom of those stairs for a number of hours. "And when they brought him up this last time, he was in dire...need of some help".
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that of one frat member's mobile phones was analysed by police and and showed a series of internet searches that included "falling asleep after head injury", "true or false, a person with a serious head injury or concussion should be kept awake", and "binge drinking, alcohol, bruising or discoloration, cold feet and cold hands". Miller added, "They literally delayed getting him help".
At first, Cordell Davis thought his fellow pledge had just had too much to drink, he said. He heard Piazza groaning, and eventually he saw Piazza roll off the couch and land on the floor.
Eight fraternity members are also looking at involuntary manslaughter. Other charges included hazing, aggravated and simple assault, alcohol-related violations and evidence tampering. Fraternity members had allegedly instructed pledges to drink excessive amounts as part of various rituals and games. Also the guys taking care of didn't call an ambulance right away, so they could get in trouble for negligence. "Just because it happened in a fraternity house, just because it happened on a college campus, don't think to yourself, 'Oh, it couldn't be that bad'". The fraternity in question has been shut down by the university. The manual warns that drinking by pledges can result in expulsion from the frat and that hazing is prohibited.
A lawyer for the Piazza family, Tom Kline, issued a statement saying Penn State and fraternities have created a "culture of permissiveness". The university is still recovery after the Jerry Sandusky scandal. According to the presentment, security footage shows at least two other fraternity members trying to assist him as he staggered through the rooms of the house.
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