Their son died after a horrific hazing ritual at Penn State. This is what they want other parents of college-aged kids to know.

• Timothy Piazza was a Penn State sophomore who died in 2017 after being hazed.
• His parents spoke to BI about their son, his death, and how the legal system fails hazing victims.
• They also shared tips for other parents to help speak to their kids about the dangers of hazing.

Jim Piazza can pinpoint the moment he knew his critically injured 19-year-old son Timothy would die.

Jim and his wife Evelyn were en route to Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania, where Timothy had been life-flighted. At the time, all the college sophomore's parents knew was that he'd fallen down the stairs and suffered a brain bleed.

"In my head, I thought, 'OK, they'll drill a hole, they'll release the pressure on the brain, it'll be OK. If it's a little bit worse, maybe he'll have some speech problems or some gait problems,'" Evelyn told Business Insider. "Never, never in my imagination could I ever come up with his real medical condition."

Jim, on the other hand, recalls an eerie moment of prescience earlier that day when he met with a college student for a career talk.

The conversation that morning had turned to fraternities, and Jim mentioned to the student, who was in one, that his son Timothy was looking to join Beta Theta Pi, a social fraternity founded in 1839 and known for its "Men of Principle" philosophy. According to Jim, when he found out Timothy attended Penn State University, the student issued an ominous warning.

"He ended the conversation with, 'At Penn State, they haze pretty hard, and people could die from hazing,'" Jim said. "I didn't think much about it, but then when we were in the car driving to Hershey Medical Center, I said to Evelyn, 'This better not have anything to do with that effing fraternity.' And she said, 'Well, it was the first night of pledging.'"

"At that moment, I knew my son was going to die," he said. "I just reflected on that conversation earlier in the morning, and I was like, 'That was a sign.'"

Timothy's parents never expected his fate when he left for college

Timothy's parents, who were interviewed for the new A+E series "Houses of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life," weren't particularly worried when their son told them he wanted to join a fraternity. More than anything, they were a bit surprised at the choice and concerned that it could detract from the rigorous mechanical engineering program he was in.

Jim believes that Timothy saw Beta, which was first established at Penn State in 1855 and has chapters on 141 college campuses across North America, as an opportunity to build a community and a network for his future career.

Their older son Mike, who was also interviewed for the A+E series, expressed surprise that his younger brother decided to pledge fraternities, mostly because he himself hadn't been involved in Greek life while at Penn State.

According to his parents, Timothy had followed Mike, who was only 18 months older, to Penn State. They recalled that he initially intended to stay closer to home, looking at schools like Lehigh and Rutgers, which weren't as far from the family's home in Lebanon, New Jersey.

"I think he didn't want to be too far from us. He liked that security," Evelyn said.

"But at the end of the day, I think he saw his brother's there, and thought 'This could be a cool thing to be in school with my brother.' I think that's what drove him there," Jim added.

The mom of two recalled expecting to be "devastated" by her empty nest after both of her sons went away to school but came to find she enjoyed it.

Timothy Piazza died as a result of hazing in February 2017

On February 2, 2017, Timothy was among the pledges who arrived at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house at about 9 p.m. for the first night of pledging. Much of the ordeal that led to his death was captured on video from surveillance cameras that had been installed in the frat house after a recent renovation. (Evelyn told BI she has seen the footage, but Jim hasn't.)

According to the grand jury report, Timothy and the other 13 pledges were made to run "the gauntlet," chugging an excessive amount of alcohol, including a handle of vodka, cans of beer, and red wine. Timothy's intake reportedly totaled 18 drinks in 82 minutes. This spiked his blood alcohol content level to as high as 0.36.

Aaron White, the former program director for College and Underage Drinking Prevention Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, previously told BI that vital functions begin to shut down at around 0.35 BAC, but any BAC over 0.3 is considered life-threatening and poses a significant risk of death.

But the young man's death was ultimately caused by an intoxicated fall down a flight of stairs to the frat house's basement. Several Beta brothers were observed carrying an unconscious and visibly injured Timothy back up the stairs, where they left him on a couch, according to the grand jury report. He later awoke and stumbled again around the room, even attempting to find his way out of the house, before once again staggering off camera toward the basement stairs and seemingly falling down them again.

By the time the Beta brothers carried Timothy upstairs again, he was unconscious. Instead of calling 911, according to the report, they covered him with blankets, attempted to get him dressed, cleaned up the party, and searched the internet for head injury symptoms.

Kordel Davis, a Beta brother present the night of Timothy's death who was interviewed for the A+E docuseries, described in the episode how he attempted to convince the young men to call 911 before being told to leave the house. No one called for help until it was too late.

Fourteen hours after arriving at the frat house, Timothy was finally rushed to the hospital. The next day, he was dead.

In the show, Jim recalls how he spoke to a doctor in the hospital when he and Evelyn finally arrived and saw Timothy's dire condition. The doctor confirmed to the distraught father that his son could have been saved if someone had gotten him medical attention sooner.

The Piazzas say the legal system doesn't take hazing seriously, and colleges need to crack down

Timothy's death was tragic and avoidable. But he was far from the first college student to lose his life after fraternity hazing. His case was, however, among the rare ones that actually resulted in criminal charges.

In May 2017, 18 Beta brothers were initially charged with nearly 900 charges related to Timothy's death. Most of the defendants faced lesser charges of tampering with evidence, hazing, reckless endangerment, and furnishing alcohol to minors, but eight of the 18 were also charged with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Ultimately, the most serious charges, including involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, were all dropped by the judge.

For Jim and Evelyn, the dropped charges were a "severe" disappointment — especially with all of the proof in the form of the security footage showing what had happened to Timothy.

"To me, it just indicated that either they're not taking it seriously or they don't understand the laws well enough," Jim said.

Legal proceedings in the criminal case are still ongoing. Additional charges were brought against Beta members (both those previously charged and other members who weren't initially charged) in November 2017, after prosecutors recovered deleted footage from the night of Timothy's death.

The majority of the defendants pleaded guilty to the lesser charges related to alcohol and hazing, with many only being sentenced to house arrest, probation, and/or court-ordered community service. At least two former defendants had all charges against them dropped.

In April 2019, four of the Beta brothers charged pleaded guilty and were ultimately convicted of hazing and conspiracy to commit hazing. One was ordered to serve house arrest, and the other three received short sentences ranging from 30 days to nine months in jail, though those were ultimately downgraded to house arrest and probation. Two other Beta brothers pleaded guilty in July 2024 to charges including misdemeanor hazing and reckless endangerment and are scheduled to be sentenced in October.

The Piazza family has also filed civil lawsuits against more than 20 former Beta members, which are also ongoing.

The Piazzas settled with Beta Theta Pi's national organization in September 2018 for an undisclosed monetary sum and several safety reforms, including requiring all Beta chapter houses in the country to go alcohol-free by 2020. Penn State settled with the Piazza family in 2019, which included several safety reforms and Beta Theta Pi's permanent ban from their campus.

The university's statement, appended to the episode, states that "student safety is of paramount importance at Penn State, and the University has consistently implemented comprehensive, evidence-based measures aimed at curbing excessive drinking and promoting responsible behavior among students."

After their son's death, Evelyn and Jim fought to pass the "Timothy Piazza Anti-Hazing Law" in Pennsylvania, making fraternity hazing a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison in the state. Though the law is a step in the right direction, following states like Florida that have similar legislation, the Piazzas say they're disappointed that legislators seemingly aren't using the law to level charges against offenders.

They say they know of instances of hazing that have occurred since the law passed, even at Penn State, where it doesn't appear legal action was taken against the perpetrators.

"I've sent emails to the Centre County District Attorney [where Penn State is located] to say, 'Hey, I understand it was hazing at Penn State. Where are the charges? Where's the arrests?'" Jim told BI.

According to Jim, his emails went unanswered. "The legal system doesn't seem to want to deal with it."

The Centre County District Attorney's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

The Piazzas also believe that colleges need to take a harder line when disciplining students for hazing, which they think the institutions are hesitant to do because they "like to have the money" in donations from former fraternity members and tuition from the students in frats.

"You need people held accountable by the schools, the universities. They need to expel the students. You need accountability by the fraternities. They need to kick them out," Jim said.

Penn State didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Evelyn also pointed to the larger fraternity organizations that oversee individual chapters as being culpable in hazing deaths. She recalled seeing that at least two fraternities had announced their intention to take civil action against their own members over hazing.

"If they actually did that and were successful, then it would just be another proof that it is not tolerated and that you are definitely on the hook should something go wrong," she said.

A representative for Beta Theta Pi's national organization said in an email statement to BI that the fraternity "continues to grieve the loss" and "remains heartbroken" for the Piazza family's loss.

"The events that took place that fateful evening were reprehensible and the Fraternity has consistently advocated for those involved to be held fully accountable. Simply put: Tim deserved so much more from the young men he sought to join in the name of friendship and brotherhood," the statement continues. "Hazing has no place in college fraternities, and Beta Theta Pi will continue to champion efforts at all levels aimed at ensuring a safe environment and experience for its new members and guests."

Tips for parents of college-aged kids to prevent hazing deaths

Now, the Piazza family is left only with the memory of their funny, hot-tempered, athletic, smart, video game-loving, and good-hearted son — and the determination to help other parents avoid this tragedy.

Since Timothy's death, Jim and Evelyn have been outspoken against hazing, including educating parents about the dangers of it and what they can do to deter it.

First, they want parents to know that even seemingly innocuous hazing rituals can, and likely will, lead to more dangerous activities.

The Piazzas also underscored the importance of warning college-aged kids about the very real potential dangers of Greek life. Evelyn advises other parents to "open up that dialogue," making sure your college-aged kids know "how important they are, how much you love them, how they are not invincible, how you trust them, but that other people do bad things."

The Piazzas also stress the importance of pledges banding together and walking away if they're asked to do anything illegal or damaging to themselves or someone else.

"Say no as a group. They're not going to throw you out. They need your money," Jim said.

Evelyn and Jim also want parents to give their kids tips about how to seek help for someone else, even in the face of group intimidation.

"If somebody does need help, you're not a doctor. Don't question it. Call for help," Jim added. "If you feel uncomfortable calling for help in front of the rest of the organization, walk outside and call for help. Do it anonymously. It's all fine."

In Timothy's memory and in honor of the career he'd hoped to have developing prosthetics for children and injured soldiers, Jim and Evelyn have set up the Timothy J. Piazza Memorial Foundation. The organization provides monetary support to those who need prosthetic devices.