Florida A&M Drum Major Robert Champion's Hazing Death Ruled A Homicide (VIDEO)

[samanthajane13]

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The state medical examiner's office has ruled that the death of a Florida A&M University drum major last month was a homicide after concluding that the student was severely beaten in a hazing incident and died within an hour.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office issued a statement Friday evening saying it planned to work with the State Attorney's office "to identify the charges that are applicable" in the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion.

The medical examiner's office in Orlando found that Champion had bruises to his chest, arms, shoulder and back and internal bleeding that caused him to go into shock, which killed him.

"The Champion family's worst fears were realized tonight when their son Robert's death was ruled a homicide by hazing," the victim's family said in a statement Friday evening. "We now hope that all those responsible for this act will swiftly be brought to justice. Our goal is that no other family will have to live through this pain."

"We don't want to stop the music," the statement said, "we want to stop the hazing."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...6pLid%3D120986

[Amy]

I guess they were thinking that, since this hazing didn't involve death by alcohol consumption (which is what most of the hazing deaths I have read about were) that it wasn't as bad or something? Why the heck beat the crap out of someone? There surely must be other forms of hazing that don't end in bodily harm or death. Or, heck, why do the hazing @ all? Seems going for auditions for a coveted seat would be nerve wracking enough.

[BeastofBears]

At Cal, hazing seemed composed of being smeared with butter and not being allowed to shower for a week, or being dressed in women's underwear and going to class. Stupid, but at least "fun"... I don't get this killing people insanity.

[lorettalockhorn]

FAMU Hazing: 13 charged in Robert Champion's death

One suspect has criminal record



ORLANDO, Fla. -
There was no single blow, stomp or strike to Robert Champion's bruised and battered body that killed him as he was pummeled by fellow Florida A&M University marching band members during a hazing ritual aboard a charter bus last fall.


Instead, his death was caused by multiple blows from many individuals. That inability to pinpoint which blow ultimately caused the 26-year-old drum major's death led authorities to charge 13 defendants Wednesday with hazing rather than more serious counts like manslaughter or second-degree murder.

At a news conference announcing the charges, State Attorney Lawson Lamar said Champion's death wasn't linked to one single strike but is attributed to multiple blows...

http://www.wpbf.com/FAM-Hazing-13-ch...18/-/9aeccl/-/

[lorettalockhorn]

Robert Champion Hazing Death: Pam Champion, victim's mother, wanted more severe charges



CBS/AP) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The mother of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, who died during a hazing ritual aboard a charter bus last fall, said in an interview on Wednesday that she is glad charges were filed but disappointed they weren't more severe.

"The term 'hazing' in itself is a very light term," Pam Champion told CNN's "AC360". "I don't look at it as being a form of bullying. Hazing is a very brutal assault ... against another person."


Prosecutors announced that thirteen individuals will be charged in connection to Robert Champion's death. State Attorney Lawson Lamar says 11 of the 13 people charged will face the felony charge. The others will face a misdemeanor charge...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_1...evere-charges/

[lorettalockhorn]

Arrests in hazing case keep cloud over FAMU



TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Now that 13 people have been charged in the hazing death of a Florida A&M University drum major, the future is murky for a famed marching band that has performed at the Grammys, presidential inaugurations and Super Bowls.

The band was suspended immediately after Robert Champion's death in November, and even the governor says it's far too soon for the Marching 100 to take the field again. Champion's mother, Pam, took that even a step further: She said the band should be disbanded so the university can "clean house." She and the family's attorney contend there is a vast effort among students and others to cover up who is responsible for her son's death.

"If you don't clean the filth out it just stays there," she said Thursday. "You can't move forward as business as usual."...

http://www.wtop.com/209/2727557/13-c...g-in-FAMU-case

[lorettalockhorn]

Family: Disband FAMU Marching Band

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...uzT_video.html

Video at link.

[lorettalockhorn]

Marching 100 band to remain suspended through 2013



TALLAHASSEE -- Florida A&M University's president has announced big changes for its marching band after the hazing death of a drum major.


During a conference call Monday morning with the university's board of trustees, FAMU president James Ammons recommended the Marching 100 be suspended through the 2012–13 school year...

Longtime band director Julian White, who had been fighting to keep his job, abruptly decided to retire.


Top state officials, including Gov. Rick Scott and the State University System chancellor, said the Marching 100 should remain sidelined until other ongoing investigations into the band are completed.

Some, including Champion's mother, have called for the entire band to be disbanded, but the Ammons said last week he was considering reinstating the group.

http://cfnews13.com/content/news/cfn...eeting_bo.html

[samanthajane13]

Florida college band suspended indefinitely over hazing death

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Florida A&M University has suspended its celebrated marching band indefinitely as it grapples with the beating death of a drum major and an ongoing probe into the band's culture of violent hazing.

"I have decided the suspension of the band will continue through the 2012-13 academic year," James Ammons, president of Florida A&M in Tallahassee, told university trustees in a conference call on Monday.

The band has been on suspension since the November 2011 hazing death of 26-year-old drum major Robert Champion during a road trip to Orlando.

"I was heavily influenced by the need to be respectful of Robert Champion's family as well as other alleged victims," Ammons said to the board, in explaining his decision to sideline the band for the foreseeable future.

http://news.yahoo.com/florida-colleg...6385--spt.html

[samanthajane13]

Slain Florida marching band student asked for hazing: defendant

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The Florida college marching band member killed in a brutal 2011 hazing wanted to submit to the ritual and received permission from the head drum major to participate on the night he died, according to testimony released by prosecutors on Wednesday.

Robert Champion, 26, was beaten to death on board Bus C, part of a fleet of 11 buses and a limousine that ferried the Florida A & M University marching band to the Florida Classic football game and band competition in Orlando in November 2011.

Champion's family has described the drum major as being opposed to hazing.

http://news.yahoo.com/slain-florida-...191403473.html

[lorettalockhorn]

Is agreeing to hazing the same as asking for brutality? Did Robert know that the hazing might mean death? Was he a special candidate because he held out all season? What kind of sick MFers would kick him when he's down on one knee already?

I loved band and marching season and my part in the front line, but can't imagine submittimg to such violence. This case makes me ill.

[lorettalockhorn]

Robert Champion's Parents Sue FAMU For Hazing Death



Florida A&M University President James Ammons resigned today, the same day parents of drum major Robert Champion, who was beaten to death during a hazing ritual on a bus, filed a lawsuit adding the school to a wrongful death suit.

Ammons resigned in a letter to the FAMU governing board, according to the Associated Press. Representatives from the university did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.

In the lawsuit, Champion's parents, Robert and Pamela Champion, allege that the school did not do enough to stop the hazing that was a well-known tradition among the elite marching band.

"[The] FAMU Board of Trustees negligently failed to properly supervise, train, discipline and control the FAMU band," the lawsuit alleges...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/famu-drum-m...ry?id=16755193

[samanthajane13]

Thank you for the update, Loretta!!

[lorettalockhorn]

FAMU President James Ammons to step down immediately



Trustees at Florida A&M University decided Monday that President James Ammons should step down immediately instead of waiting for his scheduled resignation date of Oct. 11.

Ammons submitted his resignation last week amid a growing scandal over the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion in Orlando last fall and widespread criticism over management, financial and academic problems at the university.

Trustees Chairman Solomon Badger suggested at an emergency meeting Monday that the trustees waive their requirement that Ammons provide a 90-day notice of his intent to leave office.

Instead, they agreed Ammons should leave immediately so the university can move forward with needed changes...

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...s-hazing-death

[lorettalockhorn]

FAMU hazing suspect Rikki Wills tells HBO about assault on Robert Champion


FAMU drum major Rikki Wills, the first of 11 felony hazing defendants to speak publicly about the death of his roommate and fellow drum major Robert Champion, insisted he tried to help Champion through the ritual that killed him...

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...on-rikki-wills

Somewhat graphic description of the beating inside, fortunately it's short.

[lorettalockhorn]

FAMU to try to settle suit over band hazing death



TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida A&M University wants to try to settle a family's lawsuit against the school over the hazing death of a band member.

FAMU trustees on Thursday voted to instruct attorneys representing the university to enter a voluntary mediation session with attorneys for the parents of Robert Champion.

Champion died last November after Marching 100 members allegedly beat him during a hazing ritual...

"We have not committed to mediation," Chestnut said. "We are engaged in and committed to aggressively litigating this case in the memory of Robert Champion and to protect other students."

Chestnut said he was unable to comment on whether the Champions ever would consider a settlement agreement.

"The fight for the Champions right now is for the safety of people," Chestnut said....

http://www.wftv.com/news/ap/georgia/...g-death/nRCsf/

[lorettalockhorn]

FAMU says it's not responsible for Robert Champion's hazing death



TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —


Florida A&M University is asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed against the university by the family of a drum major who died last November after a hazing ritual.

Monday's filing by the university said the wrongful death lawsuit from the family of drum major Robert Champion should be dismissed on several grounds.

Among them, the university claims Champion should have refused to participate in hazing events. The university also said taxpayers should not be held liable for what it called Champion's "imprudent and avoidable decision."...

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/...g-death/nR7T8/

[lorettalockhorn]

FAMU faults Champion in his hazing death



Florida A&M University is not responsible for drum major Robert Champion's hazing death, according to a court document filed Monday night.

Champion himself is.

In a 23-page motion seeking dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Champion's family in Orange County circuit court, FAMU's attorneys laid out a blunt response:

Champion was a 26-year-old leader in FAMU's famous marching band who knew the dangers of hazing. He had signed an anti-hazing pledge with the university months before he was beaten aboard a charter bus in Orlando last fall.

He had witnessed two other students submit to the brutal ritual immediately before him. And for several months previously, Champion had debated with his friend and fellow drum major Keon Hollis about whether to go through with it — ostensibly, to gain the respect of his fellow musicians...

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...opher-chestnut

[lorettalockhorn]

FAMU band member pleads no contest in Robert Champion hazing death

Brian Jones is the first of the accused band members to withdraw a plea of not guilty



Former Florida A & M University band member Brian Jones pleaded no contest this morning to felony hazing in the death of drum major Robert Champion.

Jones, who will turn 24 later this month, is the first of the 12 band members charged in Champion's beating death to withdraw a not-guilty plea. The others are set for trial next year.

Champion, 26, died Nov. 19 after a hazing aboard a charter bus parked outside the Rosen Plaza hotel...

Circuit Judge Marc Lubet accepted Jones' plea today but did not pronounce Jones guilty. Lubet set sentencing for Oct. 22 to allow Champion's parents to attend.

"You'll never make it right with them," the judge told Jones, "but do everything in your power to try."...

The judge also praised Jones, now enrolled at the State College of Florida, "for stepping up to the plate" and accepting responsibility for his role in the deadly hazing...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/featu...,1328368.story

[samanthajane13]

FAMU band member pleads no contest in Robert Champion hazing death

Brian Jones is the first of the accused band members to withdraw a plea of not guilty



Former Florida A & M University band member Brian Jones pleaded no contest this morning to felony hazing in the death of drum major Robert Champion.

Jones, who will turn 24 later this month, is the first of the 12 band members charged in Champion's beating death to withdraw a not-guilty plea. The others are set for trial next year.

Champion, 26, died Nov. 19 after a hazing aboard a charter bus parked outside the Rosen Plaza hotel...

Circuit Judge Marc Lubet accepted Jones' plea today but did not pronounce Jones guilty. Lubet set sentencing for Oct. 22 to allow Champion's parents to attend.

"You'll never make it right with them," the judge told Jones, "but do everything in your power to try."...

The judge also praised Jones, now enrolled at the State College of Florida, "for stepping up to the plate" and accepting responsibility for his role in the deadly hazing...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/featu...,1328368.story

It's about time these little mo-fos man-up!!

[lorettalockhorn]

That goes double for admin at FAMU.

[samanthajane13]

Ex-Florida A&M band members charged with manslaughter

ORLANDO — At least 12 former members of the famed Florida A&M marching band face charges of manslaughter in the 2011 death of drum major Robert Champion, those involved in the case said Monday.

A lawyer representing the parents of Pamela and Robert Champion Sr., Champion's parents, said 13 members have been charged.

The Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office sent an e-mail to attorneys for 10 former band members at the Tallahassee school, notifying them that each would be charged with manslaughter in addition to felony hazing charges they already faced, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...Top+Stories%29