Prosecutors decline to file charges over death of a Cornell University freshman Antonio Tsialas
Police have said that no criminal charges will be brought in the death of a Cornell University freshman whose body was found in a gorge after he attended a fraternity rush party.
The body of Antonio Tsialas, 18, was discovered on the evening of October 26 inside the Fall Creek George, in a nature preserve in Ithaca, New York near the Cornell campus.
In a statement on Monday, the Cornell University Police department said that its investigation involving 150 interviews had been unable to determine how Tsialas got to the gorge after a night of heavy drinking at a Phi Kappa Psi rush party, or why he was at the steep overlook.
Investigators said that they did not identify any evidence of foul play at the overlook, and the death remains accidental due to a fall from a height as classified by the medical examiner.
Cornell freshman Antonio Tsialas, 18, was found dead in October after attending a Phi Kappa Psi rush party that involved heavy binge drinking games
His body was found in the Fall Creek George (above), in a nature preserve in Ithaca, New York near the Cornell campus
The Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office determined that no criminal charges would be filed in connection with the case, CUPD said.
On October 24 Tsialas got dinner with his parents who were visiting campus for First-Year Family Weekend then attended a ‘dirty rush’ party hosted by the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. Such parties are a way for fraternities to recruit first year students outside of official fraternity rules.
After the party, the 18-year-old club soccer player failed to return to his dorm. Tsialas’ parents reported him missing the next day.
His body was found two days after the frat party at Fall Creek Gorge, which is located about a mile from the fraternity house at 129 Mary Ann Wood Drive, about a 20 minute walk.
In a lawsuit filed in January, Tsialas’ parents accuse the university of turning a blind eye to the school’s hazing culture and they name many of the fraternity’s members, claiming they did nothing to save their son’s life.
In their lawsuit, his family says that on the night of his death, Antonio and the other boys had gone through various rounds of drinking in the fraternity house.
In a lawsuit filed in January, Tsialas’ parents accuse the university of turning a blind eye to the school’s hazing culture and they name many of the fraternity’s members
This map shows where Antonio was last known to be in the evening of October 24, at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house. His body was found on October 26 at the Fall Creek gorge at a nearby nature preserve
He had been at dinner with his mom then was picked up for a ‘Christmas in October’ rush party at the frat house, where new pledges were forced to complete seven drinking games in seven different rooms.
There was a tropical room – where they had alcohol poured