Los Angeles prosecutors decided not to file charges against the president of a former Cal State Northridge fraternity after a pledging student died in 2014.
On July 20 the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office decided there was not enough evidence to prosecute president of Pi Kappa Phi Alex Terzibachian.
Armando Villa was on a hike with Pi Kappa Phi on July 1, 2014, when he ran away from the group. Members of the fraternity later found him unconscious and sunburned. He had died of dehydration.
Villa’s parents, who are suing the university and the fraternity, argued Villa was forced to wear ill-fitting shoes and that the pledging student only left the group to search for more water because the fraternity had not brought enough.
But prosecutor’s ruled that choosing to hike on a hot day with insufficient water was not enough to charge someone for manslaughter and did not align with past cases of hazing.
Terzibachian and other fraternity members on the hike said they didn’t think Villa was any worse off than anyone else.
The fraternity has since been permanently banned from operating at the university, according to latimes.com.
