Parents of Penn State pledge sue frat members over his death

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The parents of a Penn State sophomore who died two years ago after a night of drinking and hazing have sued 28 members of a shuttered fraternity and a security company hired to help enforce alcohol regulations.

Lawyers for Tim Piazza’s parents announced the federal wrongful-death lawsuit today and also disclosed they have reached a confidential monetary settlement with Penn State.

The lawsuit says that the night of Feb. 2, 2017, Piazza was pressured to consume a large amount of alcohol in the Beta Theta Pi house and “became stuporous.”

“The fraternity defendants negligently, recklessly, and outrageously forced, coerced, encouraged or otherwise caused Pennsylvania State University sophomore Timothy Piazza to consume life-threatening amounts of alcohol, and caused him to become intoxicated, fall and suffer grievous injuries and death,” the lawsuit alleges. “For more than 11 hours after his fall, Timothy Piazza endured horrible pain and suffering, which was documented by closed-circuit cameras.”

Authorities say Piazza, 19, of Lebanon, New Jersey, suffered fatal injuries in a series of falls. Medical help was not summoned until the next morning.

The building’s elaborate system of security cameras captured events as Piazza and other pledges engaged in drinking rituals. After Piazza fell down the basement steps he had to be carried up to a first-floor couch, where he spent the evening and overnight in visible agony.

He was found to have suffered a fractured skull and severe abdominal bleeding, among other injuries.