At 19 years old — his life seemingly still before him — Timothy Piazza entered a familiar destination and the last he would live to see, a dwelling near Penn State University distinguished less by its Tudor Revival brick construction than three Greek letters.
By the time medics removed the young pledge from the Beta Theta Pi House half a day later, he was bleeding internally from injuries including a lacerated spleen and a fractured skull, his body bruised and in a stupor from alcohol nearly four times the legal limit.
His death a year ago today drew expressions of shock and anger.