State College, PA (WJAC) — It has been over five years since Penn State student Timothy Piazza died after an alcohol fueled hazing event at a university fraternity.
His death sparked new hazing legislation, along with a nationwide awareness campaign, but a civil suit filed by his parents has still not been resolved.
Earlier this week, in federal court, James and Evelyn Piazza asked a judge for a ruling that could end a years-long delay in their wrongful death suit.
In February of 2017, Piazza died after consuming a massive amount of alcohol during a pledge event at Penn State's Beta Theta Pi fraternity chapter.
The Piazzas filed suit against dozens of defendants, including close to 30 members of the fraternity who investigators say waited nearly 12 hours before calling for medical help for Piazza, who fell down a fraternity stairwell.
Many of those fraternity members were also criminally charged.
On the civil suit side, there's been 25 out-of-court settlements, but the criminal cases against two of the fraternity members, the president of the frat in 2017, Brendan Young, and fraternity vice president Daniel Casey, are ongoing.
The pair have not yet been tried, or agreed to any plea deals, because appeals related to their cell phone evidence are still in the court system.
Young and Casey say the criminal charges shield them from being asked for any evidence in the civil proceedings.
The Piazzas want a judge to lift a stay in the evidence discovery process for Young and Casey in hopes of getting their civil case closer to trial.
Meanwhile, the defendants, earlier this month, also filed a motion, claiming that they have new information in the case and want the presiding judge to issue an order to keep that information confidential.
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