Family of Ohio student who died sues fraternity, alleges hazing

ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — The family of an Ohio college student who died after pledging a fraternity is accusing the fraternity of extensive physical and mental hazing.

A lawsuit filed today in Athens County Court says Ohio University student Collin Wiant was beaten with a belt, pelted with eggs, deprived of sleep and forced to take drugs and drink a gallon of alcohol in an hour.

The suit, seeking at least $25,000, names both the local chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity and the fraternity’s Lebanon, Tenn.-based national office.

The lawsuit says the 18-year-old freshman from Dublin died Nov. 12, 2018, of asphyxiation due to ingestion of nitrous oxide provided to and forced on Wiant by fraternity members.

Jonathan Frost, Sigma Pi’s executive director, declined to comment on the complaint.