Three former Florida A & M University band members were convicted of manslaughter and felony hazing in the November 2011 death of fellow “Marching 100” member Robert Champion. Champion received a fatal beating on the band’s bus after the annual Florida Classic football game in Orlando.
Prosecutors said Benjamin McNamee, Aaron Golson, and Darryl Cearnel took part in a brutal hazing act that they knew was illegal, but was so common it even had a name…“Crossing Bus C.” Defense attorneys say there’s no way to prove their clients were responsible for killing Champion in the chaos that night. Thirteen people were originally charged. Most have pleaded guilty. The accused ringleader received a six-year sentence after a separate trial late last year.
Orlando Sentinel columnist and editorial writer Darryl Owens says the events of that night have had far-reaching consequences.