Prosecutor Charges 13 in FAMU Marching 100 Hazing Death

Lawson Lamar, state attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit of Florida, announced that criminal charges have been filed against 13 Florida A&M University students accused in the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion Jr., according to USA Today.

Eleven of the students have been charged with felony hazing.

Champion, 26, a member of the FAMUs famed Marching 100 band, died hours after the Nov. 19 football game between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman University in Orlando.

The cause of death was trauma, caused by excessive bleeding after a hazing ritual aboard a band charter bus involving more than two dozen students, the Orange-Osceola medical examiner's office ruled.

In January, FAMUs board of trustees created a five-member committee with the goal of eradicating hazing, as well as an on-site memorial and scholarship dedicated to Champion.