Los Angeles Times
December 1, 2024
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama A&M football player from Southern California who suffered a head injury during a game in October has died, officials said.
Medrick Burnett Jr., 20, was playing his first season as a linebacker with Alabama A&M when he sustained the injury during the annual Magic City Classic against in-state rival Alabama State on Oct. 26, the Jefferson County coroner said in a statement Friday. The coroner listed the date of his death as Wednesday evening.
The Alabama A&M athletic department announced Burnett’s death Wednesday morning and then sent out a retraction later that day. The second statement said the initial news of Burnett’s death came “from an immediate family member on Tuesday evening.”
The redshirt freshman from Lakewood joined Alabama A&M over the summer after starting his college career at Grambling State, according to the athletics department.
A spokesperson for the department could not be reached for comment.