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Family Sues Bus Owner Over FAMU Death

ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) - The family of a Florida A&M University student who died after a hazing incident on a charter bus is filing a lawsuit Monday against the company that owns the bus.

Robert Champion's family was filing the lawsuit Monday in Orlando.

The family's attorney, Chris Chestnut, said bus company managers knew that band members conducted hazing rituals on buses after football games but did nothing to stop them.

Chestnut also said the bus driver on the night of Champion's death stood guard outside the bus while the drum major was being hazed. Champion, 26, a drum major in FAMU's famed Marching 100 band, died as a result of blunt force trauma.

Ray Land, the owner of Fabulous Coach Lines, didn't immediately respond to phone and email messages but he told The Associated Press last year that the bus driver was helping students unload their instruments when Champion collapsed.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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