Robert Champion, a Florida A&M drum major, was killed in November 2011. He was 26. His case is featured in Investigation Discovery’s “Murder Under the Friday Night Lights.'
Robert Champion’s mother, Pam Champion, stared at her phone after hearing the heartbreaking news that left her breathless. Her son had collapsed and died. 'My son had a physical, and he was healthy,' Pam recalled to Fox News Digital. 'I was trying to figure out what could have made my child just die so suddenly. I spent the whole day trying to figure that out, only to find out that it was all a lie. He didn’t just collapse and die. What happened was the unthinkable.
Pam said it wasn’t until the next day that she heard her son’s name on the local news. The broadcast showed a photo of him she didn’t recognize. She soon learned her son had bruises on his chest, arms, shoulders and back when he died. Witnesses told emergency dispatchers Champion was vomiting before he was found unresponsive. 'My son didn’t just collapse and die. He was beaten to death,' said Pam. 'He was murdered. And I needed to know what happened.
Rob was talking about how people were trying to get him to do something,' Pam explained. 'He never identified what that was, but he didn’t want to do it. My comment to him at the time was, ‘You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. You’re in control.’ But in terms of him using the term ‘hazing,’ that never occurred.' Champion appeared 'tired' the last time his mother saw him. 'He didn’t seem the same,' Pam recalled. 'He was backing out of the driveway.
That same year, a report from the Florida Board of Governors inspector general’s office concluded the university lacked internal controls to prevent or detect hazing. It cited a lack of communication among top university officials, the police department and the office responsible for disciplining students. A spokesperson for FAMU didn't immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment about Pam speaking out in the series.
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