Florida A&M Hazers Charged With Manslaughter

Prosecutors are charging 12 former Florida A&M University band members with manslaughter in the 2011 hazing death of a drum major. Ten of the band members had been charged last May with felony hazing for the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion, but prosecutors said today they are raising the charges to manslaughter. They also have charged two additional defendants with manslaughter.

Champion died in Orlando in November 2011 after he collapsed following what prosecutors say was a savage 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 say Champion had bruises on his chest, arms, shoulder, and back, and died of internal bleeding.