Alabama A&M football star Medrick Burnett Jr. dies in hospital... a day after team prematurely announced his passing

A coroner has officially confirmed the death of Alabama A&M linebacker Medrick Burnett Jr., four weeks after he sustained a head injury in a game.

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office pronounced Burnett, 20, dead on Wednesday.

His passing was prematurely announced earlier in the week while Burnett apparently was still on life support at UAB Hospital.

According to a GoFundMe page from his sister, Dominece James, Burnett was injured in a head-to-head collision in the Bulldogs' 27-19 loss against Alabama State in the Magic City Classic at Birmingham on October 26.

James said her brother had severe brain swelling and bleeding.

Burnett, a redshirt freshman from Lakewood, California had five tackles in seven games this season after transferring from Grambling State.. 

Burnett's school shared an update claiming he had passed away on Tuesday evening that was later retracted.

'Today, our Bulldog family is heartbroken by the loss of Medrick Burnett Jr.,' Alabama A&M Director of Athletics Dr. Paul A. Bryant said via news release.

'Medrick was more than an exceptional athlete; he was a remarkable young man whose positive energy, leadership, and compassion left an indelible mark on everyone who knew him.

'While words cannot adequately express our grief, we are humbled by the strength of his family, who stood by his side throughout this unimaginable ordeal.'

However, TMZ Sports later reported that, according to Burnett's family, the statement was false and Burnett Jr. was still fighting for his life.

'We retract the news of the passing of Medrick Burnette Jr, that was originally advised by an immediate family member on Tuesday evening,' Alabama A&M was quoted as saying in a new statement. 'Our staff acted accordingly to the wishes of the family member to inform the A&M community and beyond of this unfortunate occurrence.' 

After the bizarre error donations to the GoFundMe page surged with almost $48,000 now raised at the time of writing. The family have set a target of $100,000.

Posting on the site, his sister Dominece wrote: 'His 20th birthday was October 27th and one of the worst birthdays for us because he was in ICU and not doing well. He had several brain bleeds and swelling of the brain. He had to have a tube to drain to relieve the pressure, and after 2 days of severe pressure, we had to opt for a craniotomy, which was the last resort to help try to save his life.

'He needs and is going to need a lot of care, and all of his family live out of state from where he is located, and they also need to be able to have housing to be there to support and help him in this journey. We do not know what lies ahead yet, but we need all the prayers, support, resources, and donations to help him and his family keep giving him a fighting chance to survive.

'The donations sent will be used for his parents to be by his side due to them living over 2000 miles away from where he is hospitalized. The money will go for them to have temporary housing 900 a week, hospital fees (parking is $100 a week etc), and whatever may arise during this long journey (rental car fees a week estimated$350 ), gas to get amount etc). His mom (she has not been able to work since this injuries occurred) will have access to the funds directly to take care of all the things that is needed during this time.

'Thank you for all your support, care, donations, prayers, resources, and more it is truly appreciated.'