Robert Champion Jr.'s Parents Turn Down FAMU's $300K Settlement Offer
Florida A&M University offered $300,000 to the family of Robert Champion Jr., the drum major who died from a hazing ritual last November, CNN reports.
The family has rejected the offer, which is the highest amount that the school can offer without requiring approval from state legislature. While FAMU hoped the settlement would give the family and community closure, the family's attorney said the offer was viewed as an insult instead.
Champion died in November 2011 an hour after the 26-year-old band member participated in a hazing ritual that delivered punches, kicks and blunt trauma to his body as he attempted to run down the center aisle of a bus.
Fourteen people were charged in the case, and in July the family sued FAMU's board of trustees, the company of the bus in which the beating occurred and the bus driver. The school claimed that it was not responsible for Champion's death because he broke the law and school policies by willingly participating in the ritual.
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(Photo: Courtesy of Florida A&M University)