A funeral is set today for Brandon Larnell Brown, 26, a former Sacramento resident who played college football this fall in Kansas.
A 6-foot-3 defensive lineman at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan., Mr. Brown died Sept. 22 of injuries from a beating at an off-campus party, officials said.
Mr. Brown was found beaten and unconscious Sept. 16 by police responding to loud music and a disturbance at a home in nearby McPherson, Kan., according to news reports. He was taken to a hospital in Wichita, Kan., but never regained consciousness.
Two former McPherson College football players have been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder in the case, news reports said.
Mr. Brown attended Elk Grove High School and graduated from Calvine High School in 2004. Born June 13, 1986, in Los Angeles, he moved to Sacramento and attended schools in the Elk Grove Unified School District. He was active at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Oak Park.
He attended Cosumnes River College and played football at Santa Ana College before transferring to this fall to Tabor College, a small Mennonite college. He received a football scholarship and studied mass communication, his family said.
"He loved sports and knew the stats for everybody," said his grand-aunt, Gretchen Garner-Easter. "He wanted to be a sports commentator."
Mr. Brown is survived by a 3-year-old son, Isaiah, and 7-month-old daughter, Kayana, both of Buena Park.
Other survivors include his mother and stepfather, Ronda Hill-Holland and Raymond Holland of Sacramento; father, Craig Brown of Rialto; sisters, Riley Holland of Sacramento, Ausjerae Holland of San Jose, and Janice Brown, Brittany Brown and Brandy Brown, all of Monrovia; brothers, Brandon Holland of San Jose, and De Sean Gahner and Craig Brown Jr., both of Monrovia; and grandparents Marylynn Garner-Gharib of Buena Park, Ronald Hill of Southern California, and Johnny Boyd and Dolores Boyd, both of Monrovia.
The funeral is set for 11 a.m. today at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, 3996 14th Ave., Sacramento.
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