Student dead after frat fall; help not called for 12 hours

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Police say a Penn State University fraternity did not summon paramedics for a student who fell down a stairwell until about 12 hours after the incident. He later died.

Authorities say 19-year-old Timothy Piazza of Lebanon, New Jersey, died Saturday at Hershey Medical Center.

State College police found Piazza unconscious on a couch on the main floor when they were called to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house at 11 a.m. Friday.

Police say frat members told them the sophomore was intoxicated when he fell down the basement stairs about 11 p.m. the night before during a party.

Details on Piazza’s condition immediately after the fall have not yet been made public, and autopsy results have not yet been released.

The fraternity has been suspended, but police say its members are co-operating.

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This story has been corrected to show that Piazza was found unconscious on a couch on the main floor, and not at the bottom of the basement steps as was stated in an earlier version of this story.

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