LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Six of 7 defendants accused of playing a role in the alleged hazing death of Phat Nguyen, 21, in Nov. 2021, have had their cases dismissed in 54-B District Court.
Courtney Thang, Ali Ghazi, David Shim, Hannah Lee, Sumin Yoo, Nicholas Phraxayavong, and Hoang John Pham were all charged and arrested in late January and early February for their alleged roles in Nguyen’s death.
Thang, Shim, Lee, Yoo, Phraxayavong, and Pham had their cases dismissed Friday in 54-B.
Update from Detroit news story: The remaining two criminal cases of Ethan Cao and Andrew Nguyen related to the hazing death of a 21-year-old fraternity pledge at Michigan State University five years ago have been resolved in a way that will give the men involved nonpublic criminal records.
Opinion from Ev Piazza, hazing activist and mother of the late Tim Piazza
Are you kidding me?? This is a FELONY in the State of Michigan. A Felony, not a youthful offense that gets to be expunged from the defendant abuser-killers’ records! Phat Nguyen is dead because of these people – but we wouldn’t want to ruin their lives by sending them to jail or hazing a black mark on their internet-searchable record – no, that would be not fair to them – they need to be able to get the jobs of their dreams and live their lives. Im dumbfounded and really irritated that some DA or judge thought this was a good resolution to hazing someone to death. You know what, Judge? You just gave the green light to EVERY fraternity member, team, band, club member to haze the life out of someone because all they have to do is a little probation and then their secret case is cleared from existence. How kind of you to do that for the KILLERS! WTF!!
Seriously, I don’t know how much more I can take. I do t know that I can keep doing this. For every step forward, there are 2 steps back and I am tired of trying to educate and save lives when people are actively not listening and doing whatever they want with no repercussions. My heart hurts for Phat Nguyen’s family. This is not justice.
