ESPN College Football

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Two Central Michigan football players, including star running back Jerry Seymour, were charged Tuesday in the fatal beating of a 26-year-old man, the Isabella County prosecutor said.

A third player and a female student also were arraigned on charges stemming from the July 2004 death of Demarcus Graham, Prosecutor Larry Burdick said.

"We believe we have some of those responsible for Graham's death,'' Burdick was quoted as saying by CM Life, the Central Michigan student newspaper.

Seymour, 20, a junior from Miramar, Fla.; and Spencer Lewis, 23, a junior running back from Lathrup Village, were arraigned on one count each of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, assault with intent to do great bodily harm and perjury, Burdick said.

James Edward Cooper Jr., 22, a senior defensive tackle from Detroit, was charged with two counts of perjury, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of accessory after the fact.

Cora Lee Hawkins, 20, a sophomore from Detroit, was charged with one count of perjury.

All four were arrested Tuesday on warrants that accompanied an indictment issued by Chief Circuit Judge Paul Chamberlain. He set bond at $1 million cash or 10 percent surety on the second-degree murder charges facing Seymour and Lewis and $100,000 cash or surety on all other charges, Burdick said.

All four suspects were being held Tuesday night in the Isabella County Jail. Burdick said he did not know if they had retained attorneys, but if they hadn't done so by Wednesday or Thursday it was likely lawyers would be appointed for them.

Graham, of Mount Pleasant, was beaten unconscious outside Shaboom's Pub during a fight on June 25, 2004. He died 19 days later at St. Mary's Hospital in Saginaw.

Seymour was indefinitely suspended from the Central Michigan team on April 1, two days after he was charged with criminal contempt on accusations he lied to the grand jury. Seymour pleaded no contest and later served 30 days in jail.

Chippewas coach Brian Kelly said Tuesday that Cooper and Lewis have been indefinitely suspended, and that Seymour's suspension remained in effect.

Four other students, including two former football players, also were charged with criminal contempt in the course of Chamberlain's investigation. Each served 30 days in jail, Burdick said. Contempt charges against former player Anthony Rogers are pending, the prosecutor said.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press