Alabama A&M Football Player Medrick Burnett Jr., 20, Dies Over a Month After In-Game Injury

Medrick Burnett Jr., a 20-year-old Alabama college football player who was hospitalized after a head injury sustained during an October game, has now died over a month later.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE that Burnett — whose school Alabama A&M University had previously retracted a false death announcement earlier this week — died on Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 5:43 p.m. local time.

The corner said that Burnett “received an injury while playing in the Magic City Classic football game” at Legion Field in Birmingham on Oct. 26 at 5:30 p.m. The student-athlete died at a local Birmingham hospital, and the office noted that “all questions pertaining to the death should be made to the Alabama A&M University.”

The university did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further comment on Friday, Nov. 29.

As previously reported, Burnett was “severely injured after a head-on-head collision” during the Magic City Classic game against Alabama State University on Oct. 26 — the day before his 20th birthday, per a GoFundMe launched by his family.

The campaign — established to raise funds for temporary local housing for the football player’s parents, who live about 2,000 miles away — has since raised nearly $50,000 of a current $100,000 goal, as of Friday, Nov. 29. Burnett was initially from Lakewood, Calif., according to his school’s website, and previously played at Grambling State University in Louisiana.

“He had several brain bleeds and swelling of the brain,” the fundraiser read. “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.”

On Wednesday, Alabama A&M University issued a death announcement for Burnett, in which it remembered the 20-year-old as “a remarkable young man whose positive energy, leadership and compassion left an indelible mark on everyone who knew him,” per local news station WAFF.

However, hours after posting the announcement, the school deleted it from the athletic department’s website and expressed “immediate regret.”

“We retract the news of the passing of Medrick Burnett Jr. that was originally advised by an immediate family member on Tuesday evening,” the athletics department said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Our staff acted accordingly to the wishes of the family member to inform the A&M community and beyond of this unfortunate occurrence.”

“Upon hearing from a representative from UAB hospital this afternoon, we learned that he remains alive. We express our immediate regret for disseminating false information. However, we hold complete joy in knowing that Medrick remains in stable condition,” the department added.

Burnett’s mother, Denise Burnett, told WAFF at the time that the family would “issue a statement about what we have been through” when “the time comes.”

The athlete’s older sister, Dominece James, shared in a GoFundMe update on Nov. 27 that he was having “a tough time but we are holding on til the very end.”

The family has not issued an update since the coroner’s confirmation of Burnett’s death.