FAMU offered the Champions $300,000 in 2012, but the family
rejected it. The Florida sovereign immunity law sets $300,000 as the most that
state universities may pay as part of a legal proceeding. Higher amounts must
come from a claims bill passed by Florida Legislature.
The Champions have now decided to accept the $300,000
settlement even though it is $7.7 million less than the $8 million that a July
article in the Orlando Sentinel reported that they asked FAMU to pay,
earlier.
Champion died after a hazing incident aboard a charter bus in the parking lot of the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando on November 19, 2011. The Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., which is the insurance company for the hotel, will pay an $800,000 settlement to the Champion family.
An investigation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office found
that Champion “willingly participated” in the hazing activity that cost him his
life. Hazing victim Keon Hollis later testified under oath at the criminal
trials that he and Champion asked to be hazed. Judge Renee A. Roche, who
sentenced four former members of the FAMU Marching 100 band convicted in the
2011 hazing homicide, also said that the evidence from the trials convinced her
that Champion volunteered to be hazed.
The Champion’s reached a settlement with Fabulous Coach
Lines and driver of the bus that was the site of the hazing ritual in 2014. The
family has not released the details of the settlement. But the files of the
U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
state that Fabulous Coach Lines had a $5 million insurance limit from June 30,
2011 through January 27, 2012.