Parents to sue bus company in FAMU hazing case

By Fran Jeffries

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The parents of a Florida A&M University band member who died in November after being hazed announced Tuesday they would sue the company that owns the bus where the hazing took place.

Enlarge photo

Joseph Brown III, AP In this Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, photo, Robert Champion, then a drum major in Florida A&M University's Marching 100 band, performs during halftime of a football game in Orlando, Fla.

Related

• Alleged FAMU hazing yields lawsuit, criticism
• Culture at FAMU targeted
• 5 to be charged in FAMU death
• Death shocks FAMU band alums
• Drum major's parents want FAMU president punished in hazing death
• Bill would bar students who haze from attending Georgia schools

More DeKalb County news »

• Suicide call leads to pot bust
• Road work shifts into high gear
• DeKalb officer arrested
• Questions continue about air packs
• Ga. Perimeter plans layoffs

Robert and Pam Champion, who are from DeKalb County, said the bus company held some responsibility in the death of their son Robert, a 26-year-old drum major for the FAMU Marching 100 band, who died Nov. 19 after being beaten on a bus during a band trip to Orlando.

Authorities determined that Champion's death was a homicide. They concluded Champion suffered blunt trauma blows to his body and died from shock caused by severe bleeding.

The Champions' attorney, Christopher Chestnut, said that the bus company's negligence contributed to Champion's death. He said band members were allowed to get back on the bus without supervision to haze after they had returned to an Orlando hotel following a football game. "How did students get on the bus, how was the bus turned on, the air conditioner turned on, before a bus employee knew Robert Champion was beaten to death," Chestnut asked.

The attorney noted that witnesses said Robert Champion may have been targeted for severe hazing because of his opposition to the culture of hazing. The attorney and Champion's parents downplayed claims of witnesses that the Southwest DeKalb High School graduate may have been targeted  because he was gay. "This was hazing, not a hate crime," Chestnut said.

Chestnut said the Champions plan to file a lawsuit against FAMU but are unable to do so for several months because of a state law setting up procedures for suing public entities. Suing the bus company will allow the Champions' attorneys to depose witnesses and gather documents, Chestnut said.

Ray Land, the owner of Fabulous Coach Lines, told the Associated Press that his staff did everything possible to get help once they were notified there was a problem. Land told the AP in December that the bus driver was helping students unload their instruments when Champion collapsed.