Testimony Tuesday recounted the night a Florida A&M drum major took part in a hazing ritual, then collapsed and died.
Jury selection got underway late Monday morning at the Orange County Courthouse. The process finished Tuesday around 11 a.m. with an eight-member panel chosen. Six will constitute the main jury, and two will serve as alternates.
Before jury selection began Monday, Judge Renee Roche dismissed misdemeanor hazing charges faced by defendants Benjamin McNamee, Aaron Golson and Darryl Cearnel, who are being tried together. Each still faces 15 years on manslaughter and felony hazing counts for the November 2011 death of 26-year-old Robert Champion.
Champion - from Decatur, Georgia - was beaten during a hazing ritual after a football game in November 2011.
Former FAMU band member Keon Hollis described going through the ritual that night, the same one prosecutors say killed Champion.
He said as people ran through the bus,older band members would beat them with different items.
“As soon as I got off the bus, I just fell down and started puking in the parking lot," Hollis said. "I was pretty out of it, I was pretty weak from everything.”
Hollis said he left the bus before he knew his friend, Champion, had collapsed.
He said all three defendants were on the bus but couldn’t recall which ones had beaten him.
Another FAMU band member took the stand and placed defendants on the bus, saying he saw McNamee beating Champion.
Fifteen former band members were charged with manslaughter. Dante Martin, now 27, was convicted last year and is serving six years.
Another former band member, Jessie Baskin, served one year in county jail. Others took deals for probation and community service.
The trial is expected to last a week.
Champion’s parents sat through testimony Tuesday. Since his death they have been fighting for tougher laws against hazing, ones they believe could have prevented his death.
“My son didn’t just die, we have to make sure we understand, he just didn’t die, he just didn’t collapse, he was murdered,” said mother Pam Champion.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.