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Temple student, 24, dies after being found unconscious in library

Michael Paytas, 24, of Holmes, Ridley Township, is at least the fourth Temple student to die this semester.

Temple University student, Michael Paytas, 24, of Holmes, Ridley Township from Delaware County died Monday after being found unconscious inside the university’s Paley Library.
Temple University student, Michael Paytas, 24, of Holmes, Ridley Township from Delaware County died Monday after being found unconscious inside the university’s Paley Library.Read moreMATT ROURKE / AP, Facebook

A Temple University student from Delaware County died Monday after being found unconscious inside the university's Paley Library, authorities said Wednesday.

Michael Paytas, 24, of Holmes, Ridley Township, was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead later in the day, university officials said. Foul play was not suspected.

Paytas, a fourth-year marketing major, graduated from Ridley High School in 2011 and transferred to Temple from Delaware County Community College in 2014.

"We are deeply saddened to inform the Temple community of the passing of Michael Paytas," Temple President Richard Englert wrote in an email to students and staff. "We extend our thoughts and prayers to Michael's family, friends, classmates and faculty. We encourage any student needing support to visit Tuttleman Counseling Services."

Paytas is at least the fourth Temple student to die this semester.

  1. Cariann Hithon, 22, a transfer student from Bowie, Md., was in Florida in October with friends to celebrate her birthday when she was killed by Miami police after driving recklessly and crashing into a detective's car.

  2. The previous week, Richard Dalcourt, a 19-year-old freshman from New Jersey, jumped to his death from the top floor of his dorm room.

  3. And at the outset of the semester, Jenna Burleigh, a transfer student from Montgomery County Community College, was killed after leaving an off-campus bar. Her alleged killer, Joshua Hupperterz, was in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing on murder charges.