ORLANDO, Fla. — Twelve former Florida A&M University band members were charged Monday with manslaughter in the 2011 hazing death of a drum major.
Ten of the band members had been charged last May with third-degree felony hazing for the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion, but the state attorney’s office said they are adding the charge of manslaughter for each defendant. They also have charged two additional defendants with manslaughter, though they have yet to be arrested.
The second-degree manslaughter charge, which was announced during a status hearing Monday afternoon, carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Champion died in Orlando in November 2011 after he collapsed following what prosecutors say was a beating during a hazing ritual. It happened on a bus parked in a hotel parking lot after Florida A&M played Bethune-Cookman in their annual rivalry football game.
Authorities said Champion had bruises on his chest, arms, shoulder and back and died of internal bleeding. Witnesses told emergency dispatchers that the drum major was vomiting before he was found unresponsive aboard the bus.
Prosecutors had originally filed felony hazing charges because the charges only required that they prove the defendants took part in a hazing that resulted in death. It didn’t require them to prove who struck the fatal blows.
Two former band members whose cases were resolved last year weren’t among those charged Monday. Brian Jones and Ryan Dean have already been sentenced after pleading no-contest to third-degree felony hazing last year. Both initially pleaded not guilty.
