Source: Kansas City Star / Getty
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill has been barred from team activities effective immediately following the revelation of audio recorded from his fiancee accusing of him abusing their son. The audio, which was leaked on local Kansas City news station KCTV5, detailed the accusations made against Hill in March when their 3-year-old’s arm was broken.
Crystal Espinal, Hill’s fiancee, told KCTV5 that she used the recording as an “insurance policy” regarding the welfare of herself and their child. In the recording, Hill denies any wrongdoing to harming his child, though Espinal believes that their son wouldn’t accuse him of something that heinous if it wasn’t true. In the dialogue, Hill would get aggressive and outwardly threaten Espinal, saying that she should fear him.
“A three-year-old is not going to lie about what happened to his arm, he is terrified of you,” Espinal would tell Hill in the recording, to which he callously replies:
“You need to be terrified of me, too, dumb b—-.”
The recording came mere days after Johnson County District Attorney Stephen M. Howe said that charges will not be filed after the March incident, citing insufficient evidence. KCTV5 has sent Howe the audio, to which it will be under review.
The Kansas City Chiefs have also sent a statement acknowledging the allegations and showed support for the well-being of both parents and the health of the child.
“We were deeply disturbed by what we heard,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said in the statement. “We were deeply concerned. Now, obviously, we have great concern for Crystal. We are greatly concerned for Tyreek. But our main focus, our main concern, is with the young child.”
At this very moment, the child is out of the custody of both parents and living with family friends. Espinal is allowed to visit him with supervision.
The news of the audio recording broke an hour before the NFL Draft, to which both the NFL Network and ESPN skated away from the incident until the first round was finished.
