Criminal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday in Orlando in the
suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert
Champion.
"We're announcing that
charges will be filed against several people involved in the death," a
law enforcement source close to the investigation said.
State Attorney Lawson Lamar of Orange and Osceola counties will hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon, his office said.
A spokeswoman for the
university declined to comment on the news conference because the school
did not have any details about it.
Champion, 26, died in November.
Some university band members have said Champion died after taking part in an annual rite of passage called "Crossing Bus C."
The ritual is an
initiation process in which pledges attempt to run down the center aisle
from the front door of the bus to the back while being punched, kicked
and assaulted by senior members, according to band members.
Champion collapsed in
Orlando on the bus, which was carrying members of FAMU's Marching 100
after a November football game that included a halftime performance by
the group.
The medical examiner's
office ruled his death a homicide and said he "collapsed and died within
an hour of a hazing incident during which he suffered multiple blunt
trauma blows to his body."
An autopsy found
"extensive contusions of his chest, arms, shoulder and back," as well as
"evidence of crushing of areas of subcutaneous fat," which is the fatty
tissue directly under the skin.
The death prompted the
university board of trustees to approve an anti-hazing plan that
includes an independent panel of experts to investigate.
CNN