Defendant: FAMU band drum major wanted to be hazed

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida A&M drum major who died after being hazed on a bus asked to go through the ordeal because it was seen as an honor, a criminal defendant in the case said in a deposition released today.

Robert Champion, 26, had asked all season to go through the hazing ritual, defendant Jonathan Boyce said.

"It's a respect thing, you know," Boyce told detectives. "Well, he was wanting to do it all ... all season."

Champion died after enduring a hazing ritual on a bus outside a hotel in Orlando where FAMU had played its archrival in football.

His death revealed a culture of hazing in the famed band, which has performed at Super Bowls and inauguration parades. An autopsy concluded Champion suffered blunt trauma blows to his body and died from shock caused by severe bleeding.

Champions' parents have said their son was a vocal opponent of the routine hazing in the band.