By KYLE HIGHTOWER,Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Twelve former Florida A&M University band members were charged Monday with manslaughter in the 2011 hazing death of a drum major.

Ten of the band members had been charged last May with third-degree felony hazing for the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion, but the state attorney’s office said they are adding the charge of manslaughter for each defendant. They also have charged two additional defendants with manslaughter, though they have yet to be arrested.

The second-degree manslaughter charge announced during an afternoon status hearing carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

Champion died in Orlando in November 2011 after he collapsed following what prosecutors say was a savage beating during a hazing ritual. It happened on a bus parked in a hotel parking lot after Florida A&M played Bethune-Cookman in their annual rivalry football game.

Authorities said Champion had bruises on his chest, arms, shoulder and back and died of internal bleeding. Witnesses told emergency dispatchers that the drum major was vomiting before he was found unresponsive aboard the bus.

Christopher Chestnut, an attorney for Champion’s parents, said Pam and Robert Champion, Sr. were pleased with Ashton’s decision to upgrade the charges.

“These charges are commensurate with the acts committed,” Chestnut said. “It sends the right message regarding zero-tolerance of hazing in the FAMU band.”

Prosecutors had originally filed felony hazing charges because the charges only required that they prove the defendants took part in a hazing that resulted in death. It didn’t require them to prove who struck the fatal blows.

A spokesman for State Attorney Jeff Ashton’s office said the prosecutor would not comment. Ashton, a 30-year veteran who was on the team that failed to convict Casey Anthony of murder in 2011, was sworn in as the area’s top prosecutor in January after beating his former boss in a hotly contested election.

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