Sunday, May 6, 2012

Drum Major - Last Defendant In Florida Hazing Death Turns Herself In

(Reuters) - The last of 11 people charged in the death of a Florida A&M University drum major turned herself in on Sunday, state officials said.

Lasherry Codner, 20, surrendered to local authorities at the Orange County Jail in Florida, said a statement from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

"We began contacting (her family) on Thursday and she turned herself in today," said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the department.

Codner joins ten others who face third-degree felony charges of "hazing with death," which is punishable under Florida law by a maximum of six years in prison, for the death of 26-year-old drum major Robert Champion Jr.

Champion was beaten to death on a band charter bus in November 2011 in a case that has drawn public scrutiny of hazing, a ritual that critics say has gone on for years at the Florida Classic football game in .

The 26-year-old's death was ruled a homicide as a result of a "hemorrhagic shock" caused by "blunt force trauma" during the hazing, according to the medical examiner's report.

Under a Florida law passed last year, a death resulting from hazing is considered a homicide punishable by a "felony level penalty," not a homicide warranting murder charges, said Florida State Attorney Lawson Lamar, who has jurisdiction over Orange and Osceola counties.

Two other defendants face a misdemeanor charge for their involvement in the incident.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

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