(NewsNation) — The parents of Timothy Piazza, a former Penn State student who died after a hazing at a fraternity party, are confronted with their son’s death in new ways each day.
Jim and Evelynn Piazza joined “Morning in America” on Friday — three days after a judge ordered prison time for the two ex-fraternity leaders charged in Timothy Piazza’s death.
The case’s closure has delivered at least some relief, the parents said. The criminal justice system was, at times, grueling and disappointing for Piazza’s family. Although the past seven years have raised awareness and influenced legislation around hazing, nothing hasn’t softened the reality of waking up each day without their youngest son.
“I never thought that I would be this person, but I am no longer able to forgive,” Evelynn Piazza said. “I have seen too much. I have seen the video. I am too educated now in the ways of hazing. And I know that hazing is always done with the intent to cause harm in some way.”
Timothy Piazza died after drinking and falling down the stairs at a Feb. 2, 2017 fraternity party at Pennsylvania State University.
The 19-year-old engineering student from Lebanon, New Jersey, was among a group of 14 pledges hoping to join the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. On the night of the party, he had 18 drinks in less than two hours and fell multiple times while trying to complete an “obstacle course” as part of his initiation, The Associated Press reported.
The fraternity leaders knew what they were doing and knew that someone would get hurt, Evelynn Piazza said.
“When they did cause harm, they did nothing to help my son — (any) of them,” she said. “All of the attendees there that day. All of the fraternity brothers. All of the sorority that was attending… I’m not able to forgive anymore.”
Security cameras captured Timothy Piazza’s final hours, including a fall down the basement steps. Other partygoers carried him back up the stairs and he showed signs of severe pain as he spent the night on a first-floor couch.
No one called for help until the next morning when Piazza was found unconscious with severe head and abdominal injuries.
“They had so many opportunities to right their wrong,” Jim Piazza said. “Instead, they covered it and they prevented other people from getting Tim the help that he needed — and had he gotten it, he would have survived, according to the doctor. So, it’s hard to forgive.”
The former fraternity president and vice president, 28-year-old Brendan Young and 27-year-old Daniel Casey, will spend two to four months in prison, followed by three years of probation and community service.
The sentence was fair, Jim Piazza said. But he wishes they had been charged with harsher crimes.
More than two dozen fraternity members faced a variety of charges at one point. More than a dozen pleaded guilty to hazing and alcohol violations. Others entered a diversion program designed for first-time, nonviolent offenders.
Prosecutors were unable to secure more serious charges, including involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault. However, the young man’s family helped pass the Timothy Piazza Anti–Hazing Law, which includes a felony-graded offense in cases that result in serious injury or death.
“This has happened quite a bit,” Jim Piazza said. “There’s a number of other parents that are dealing with what we’re dealing with…There is an awareness that’s being created. And I believe changes are happening. Not quick enough for us. But changes are happening.”