HARRISBURG, Pa. — The death of a 19-year-old New Jersey student at Penn State has been ruled accidental by Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick, fox43.com reported on Tuesday.
Timothy Piazza, who graduated from Hunterdon Central Regional High School in 2015, sustained “multiple traumatic injuries from a fall,” according to the news report.
A funeral liturgy will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 390 Route 523 in Whitehouse Station, according to his obituary. A viewing will be held 4-8 p.m. on Friday at the church.
In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to be made to the Penn State Dance Marathon, which can be made by clicking on “Donate Here” at the top of the page. He was on the executive board of AYUDA, an organization benefiting the marathon, it was stated in his obituary.
“Tim loved spending his summers at the beach with his family and friends, jet skiing, playing golf and taking it to the hoop in friendly pickup basketball games,” it was written in the obituary. “He was smart, funny, friendly and kind. His time here has been all too brief but his memory will remain forever in the hearts of all who knew and loved him.”
Timothy Piazza had fallen down a set of basement stairs at the Alpha Upsilon chapter house of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at about 11 p.m. Thursday, Lt. Keith Robb of the State College police department said on Monday. Police were contacted at 10:49 a.m. on Friday after an ambulance was called, Robb said.
Piazza, who was pledging at the fraternity, was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College before being flown to Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, where he was pronounced dead on Saturday morning, Robb said. He had been studying engineering at Penn State.
Cops: Ambulance called 11 hours after student fell down stairs
According to fox43.com, members of the fraternity said Piazza was intoxicated when he fell. Robb said on Monday police are getting surveillance camera footage from inside the fraternity as part of its investigation. He said the fraternity is cooperating with police.
The fraternity has suspended operations, according to a statement released on Monday afternoon.
A well-liked student at Hunterdon Central, Piazza played football and was on the spring track team in high school, according to NJ Advance Media archives and his college profile. His older brother, Michael, is also a student at Penn State.
Timothy Piazza was a member of the high school’s Homecoming Court in 2014, served as a Red Devil ambassador and on the school’s Teen Prevention Education Program. He volunteered with the Hunterdon Outreach Program to help teach special needs children football, basketball and baseball.
Piazza also took part in the Hopeful Holidays and Readington’s Holiday Gifts Program, donating Christmas and holiday gifts to those in need. In his junior and senior years, he also tutored upper level math and science.
Craig Turpin may be reached at cturpin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @NJeditor. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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