Ryan Delanty’s trial date has been set for December 5, 2023 and is expected to last four days. Delanty faces charges of felony hazing and supplying liquor to a minor for his role in the hazing incident that caused severe injury to Daniel Santulli.
In the fall of 2021, Danny was a freshman at the University of Missouri when he was recruited by the Phi Gamma Delta chapter at UM, commonly known as FIJI. During the hazing process, Santulli was subjected to degrading behavior, causing him to suffer from depression and fatigue. On October 23, 2021, Danny was forced to drink a bottle of Tito’s Vodka, which led to his cardiac arrest caused by alcohol poisoning. As a result, he stopped breathing and suffered major brain damage. He remains blind, unable to walk, and incapable of communicating.
Ryan Delanty, a fraternity brother who was Danny’s "pledge dad," gave Danny his “family bottle” of Tito’s Vodka that led to his injury. As a result of what he did, Delanty was criminally charged with felony hazing and is now set to be tried on those charges in December of this year.
"He is the fraternity member who handed Danny the family bottle of Tito's vodka,” said Attorney David Bianchi to ABC 17 in Columbia, Missouri. “He was very, very involved in what happened.”
The other three defendants in the pending criminal cases will have their cases set for trial soon.
Our firm successfully settled with 26 defendants who played a role in what happened to Danny. Danny’s injuries remain the most severe hazing injuries ever seen in the United States. We continue to do all we can to help his family and, like all of the families of hazing victims we have represented over the past 30 years, we remain close to them and will be supporting them for years to come.
"It's important that justice be done because although they can't do anything to undo what happened to their son, they can try to stop it from happening again," said David. "You have to do something to wake these guys up and send a message to the next generation of fraternity members; maybe the criminal charges will do that. We will see."
This story has been reported by ABC 17 KMIZ. Read their coverage for more details.