Champion
An attorney for one of the remaining defendants charged in the hazing death of a Florida A&M band drum major said Saturday that prosecutors will not pursue charges against his client.
Zachary White, the attorney for ex-band member Henry Nesbitt, told The Associated Press that the state attorney is dismissing manslaughter and felony hazing charges against Nesbitt in Robert Champion’s November 2011 death, following a hazing ritual aboard a bus parked outside an Orlando hotel.
A message left with the state attorney’s office was not immediately returned, but a “Nolle Prosequi” was filed Friday in Nesbitt’s case. The Latin phrase means ‘the charges are not being pursued.’
Champion, originally from Decatur, Ga., collapsed and died after prosecutors said he walked down the aisle of a bus as other band members beat him with fists and instruments.
Nesbitt, 27, was not implicated by witnesses as being heavily involved in Champion’s hazing, according to investigation documents previously released by the state attorney. His only listed involvement was being the person who called 911 after Champion collapsed.
“He’s just thankful that it’s over for him,” White said. “But he still maintains his motivation for obviously speaking up and talking was because he thought Robert Champion’s family needed to know what happened to their child.”
White said the dismissal is not part of any plea deal, though Nesbitt remains on the state’s witness list. Nesbitt is declining to comment on the case while it is pending for the remaining defendants in the case.
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