Two University of Missouri students are facing felony charges over a hazing incident that left freshman Danny Santulli paralysed after he was forced to drink an entire bottle of vodka on a fraternity pledge night.
Ryan Delanty and Thomas Shultz were indicted by a grand jury in Boone County on Friday on charges of endangering a life and supplying liquor to a minor or intoxicated person.
Mr Shultz faces an additional charge of tampering with evidence after he allegedly withheld text messages from prosecutors.
Mr Santulli, 19, was left permanently brain damaged after he was forced to drink a bottle of Tito’s vodka and force-fed beer at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house during the “Pledge Dad Reveal Night” in October 2021.
Mr Santulli is paralysed and unable to see or speak eight months after the incident, and only returned to his parent’s home in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, this month.
Family lawyer David Bianchi filed a civil lawsuit against 23 defendants including students, officers and board advisors for Phi Gamma Delta which has recently been settled.
According to the suit, Mr Santulli was blindfolded in a room at the campus fraternity and pressured to drink a full bottle of Tito’s vodka by his “pledge father” Mr Delanty.
Mr Santulli’s family called on law enforcement to prosecute those involved in the hazing incident in an interview with Good Morning America this month.
In an interview with The Independent, Mr Bianchi called on students involved in hazing incidents to face immediate expulsion and criminal charges.
An online petition calling for “Justice for Danny Santulli” on Change.org has attracted more tan 33,000 signatures.
A University of Missouri spokeswoman told KOMU 8 that Mr Shultz is enrolled for the fall semester. Mr Delanty is not currently a student.
Surveillance footage from the night of the hazing incident shows a shirtless Mr Santulli being led around the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house and fed vodka through a tube.
After passing out, Mr Santulli is placed on a sofa by fraternity members.
Students later pick him up and take him to hospital by car.
By the time Mr Santulli reached hospital he had suffered cardiac arrest and staff had to restart his heart. He registered a blood alcohol level of .486 - five times the legal limit.
Mr Bianchi filed an amended petition this month against two of the students involved, Samuel Ghandi and Alec Wetzler.
Mr Wetzler has also been charged with misdemeanour counts of supplying alcohol to a minor and possession of alcohol by a minor, the only person to be criminally charged over the incident.
Bond has been set at $50,000 for Mr Shultz and Mr Delanty.
