The victim was beaten until he was bloody and smothered with a pillow. When he tried to escape, the driver of the bus where the incident occurred helped force the man back on board. After he died of his injuries, police began investigating the death as due to homicide.

It is another example of a wrongful death lawsuit resulting from a school hazing ritual, something we have discussed several times on this South Carolina personal injury blog. But as opposed to most of the stories we have talked about, this case involved a marching band instead of a team or fraternity.

The victim was a drum major for the Florida A&M band. The night he died, he was on a bus with other band members who were pledging a group within the band known as "Bus C." According to the lawsuit, filed on Feb. 13, members of Bus C took pledges into a coach bus and forced them to run up and down the aisle as Bus C members hit and kicked them.

Any pledge who fell down was treated to stomping and dragged to the front of the bus to endure the ritual again. One fellow pledge said that the victim suffered from especially rough treatment during this "gauntlet" ritual.

Then came the "hot seat," during which Band C members held pillows over pledges' faces and asked them questions. If the pledge answered correctly, the pillow was removed briefly to allow a breath of air. If not, the questions continued until the pledge got one correct.

At some point, the pledge became ill and got off the bus to vomit, but the bus driver, who was standing guard outside, forced him back inside, the lawsuit says.

Later that night, the victim collapsed and died due to shock caused by severe bleeding.

His family filed the wrongful death suit against the bus driver and the charter company he works for.

Source: ABC News, "Lawsuit in FAMU Death Reveals Details of Hazing," Mike Schneider, Feb. 14, 2012