Jonathan Boyce, Rikki Willis, and Shawn Turner, who all were arrested for third degree felony hazing in the Robert Champion homicide case, marched in front of the casket of the man they are accused of helping to beat to death.
Boyce (the head drum major), along with Willis and Turner, were among one of five FAMU Marching 100 drum majors who served alongside Champion. Champion died on Nov. 19 in Orlando after being hazed aboard a bus parked at the band’s hotel.
On Nov. 29, President James H. Ammons announced that the university had expelled four students “in connection to the Robert Champion incident.”
The next day, on Nov. 30, five FAMU drum majors high-stepped in front of the horse-drawn carriage that carried Champion’s body to his funeral service in Decatur, Ga. Boyce, Willis, and Turner were among them. Willis told a FAMU TV 20 reporter that it was a “pleasure to have ever met” Champion.
On Dec. 5, The FAMUan newspaper later reported that it received official university documents confirming the identities of three of the four students.
According to FAMUan staffers, the students were: “Head Drum Major Jonathan Boyce, a 24-year-old senior from Marietta, Ga., along with fellow drum majors Shawn Turner, 25 of Atlanta, and Rikki Willis, 23 of Miami.”
Keon Hollis, another drum major who marched at Champion’s funeral, later told ESPN that he and Champion voluntarily submitted themselves to the “Crossing Bus C” hazing ritual on Nov. 19.
