Back on October 31, 2014, an Orange County, Fla. jury found former
band member Dante Martin guilty of manslaughter in the hazing death of Champion.
It also found him guilty of two misdemeanor hazing convictions against former
Marching 100 band members Lissette Sanchez and Keon Hollis. The three victims
were beaten on a parked bus at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando on November
19, 2011 after the Florida Classic football game.
Prosecutors requested a sentence of nine years for Martin.
But Roche decided on a sentence of six years and five months.
According to the Associated Press, “Roche said she chose to deviate from the recommended sentencing guideline for Martin because she believed it had been demonstrated that Champion had been a ‘willing participant’ in the ritual.”
An investigation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office found
that Champion “willingly participated” in the hazing activity that cost him his
life. The Office of the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, which
prosecuted the case against Martin, agreed with those findings.
Robert Champion’s mother told reporters that she still doesn’t
believe her son consented to be hazed.
“Everybody keeps talking, as I stated in court, about how he
willingly volunteered to get onto the bus. But there’s no proof that he did.
But a lot of people have built their case on that,” Pamela Champion said.
But despite the Champion family’s claims about there being “no
proof” that their son got on the bus voluntarily, “Crossing Bus C” hazing
victim Keon Hollis testified under oath at the trial that he and Champion asked
to be hazed.
“Yeah we was talking about it,” Hollis said in a statement
to investigators. “He didn't want to do it, but he was just like, I’m gonna do
it. I told him, ‘If you don't wanna do it, don't do it.’”