Johnson County DA Declines To File Criminal Charges Against Tyreek Hill

At a press conference today in Kansas, Johnson County DA Stephen Howe told reporters that his office would not file any criminal charges against Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill or his fiancée, Crystal Espinal. According to KCTV5, Hill had been implicated in two police reports filed in March by Espinal, which alleged child abuse/neglect and battery against a juvenile. The Kansas City Star also reported at the time that the battery incident involved the couple’s son, and that it resulted in his broken arm.

During the press conference, Howe said that his office was “deeply troubled” by the situation and concerned about the child’s welfare.

“We believe that a crime has occurred. However, the evidence in this case does not conclusively establish who committed this crime,” he said.

“We feel we’re at an impasse at this point, and any further investigation would be unwarranted.”

Howe would not go into more details, both because of an ongoing Child Protective Investigation and to protect the rights of the child, but he did say the child was safe at this moment. Howe added that he had not talked to or contacted the Kansas City Chiefs or the NFL. The NFL had reached out for documents, Howe said, but he explained that it’ll only be allowed to see them if they become open to the public. However, because this incident involves a minor, that’s very unlikely.

Back in 2015, before entering the NFL, Hill pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation after he assaulted Espinal, who was then pregnant. Hill received three years probation for that crime. The NFL has yet to hand down any discipline for Hill for this most recent incident.