Newport News, Va. – Family and friends of a Virginia State University student who died during a hazing ritual was laid to rest Saturday.
The funeral for Jauwan Holmes was held at Peninsula Pentacostal Church in Newport News.
Holmes and another student, Marvell Edmondson, drowned in the Appomatox River last month.
They were supposed to walk through the river as initiation for the group “Men of Honor.”
Also at the funeral service Saturday were the parents of Robert Champion. He was the Florida A&M University drum major who was beaten to death in 2011 during a hazing incident. The family came to help the VSU students’ parents with their cause for tougher hazing laws
Four men are charged with hazing in connection to the students’ deaths which is a misdemeanor.
