'Daddy Did It': NFL Player Suspended After Tape Airs

Kansas City Chief Tyreek Hill's fiancee allegedly accuses him of child abuse
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 26, 2019 7:25 AM CDT
TV Station: NFL Player Caught on Tape Talking Child Abuse
In this Jan. 18, 2019, file photo, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill talks to the media after a workout in Kansas City, Mo.   (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

A wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs has been suspended after a local news station got its hands on a recording that suggests domestic violence involving a young child. The Kansas City Star reports on an 11-minute audio file sent to KCTV5 that appears to contain a conversation between Chiefs player Tyreek Hill, 25, and his fiancee, Crystal Espinal, in which they seem to be arguing over how their 3-year-old son got hurt. The child allegedly ended up with a broken arm on an undisclosed date. A voice believed to be Espinal's, who is pregnant with twins, can be heard telling the man believed to be Hill that their son said, "Daddy did it." She says to the man, "He is terrified of you. ... A 3-year-old is not going to lie about what happened to his arm." "You need to be terrified of me, too, b----," the man replies.

The pair can also be heard blaming each other for hitting the boy with a belt and wondering who "ratted" them out to investigators. Johnson County DA Steve Howe said Wednesday that a criminal probe related to the couple had been closed; he believed a crime had been committed tied to the child's injuries but said he couldn't prove who did it. Meanwhile, the Chiefs have suspended Hill, per Sports Illustrated. In a statement, Hill says, "My son's health and happiness is my number one priority," per the Star. The boy has been removed from Hill and Espinal's custody, with KCTV5 reporting he's now staying with a family he knows. SI notes Hill pleaded guilty in 2015 to domestic violence charges for choking and punching Espinal while she was pregnant with their son; he received three years of probation. Hear the audio tape here. (More NFL stories.)

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