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., 29, 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 his official time of 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, Calif., 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.