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Two days after a district attorney announced he would not press charges against Kansas City Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill in a child abuse case, the investigation into Hill has been re-opened, Chiefs coach Andy Reid confirmed Friday.
This comes after Kansas City TV station KCTV5 on Thursday night aired segments of an 11-minute audio clip the station says is a conversation between Hill and fiancée Crystal Espinal. In the clip, the two allegedly discuss how their 3-year-old son broke his arm.
USA TODAY Sports is attempting to confirm the authenticity of the audio and the identities of the people in the recording.
“I didn’t do nothing,” says a man the TV station identifies as Hill in the clip.
“Then why does (redacted son’s name) say, ‘Daddy did it'?" asks the woman presumed to be Espinal. “Why? Why does (son’s name) say, ‘Daddy did it’?”
The man responds: “I don’t know. He says Daddy does a lot of things.”
In the audio clip, Hill allegedly tells Espinal she needs “to be terrified of me, too, (expletive).” Espinal allegedly says their son says, “Daddy punches me” and that Hill has him “open up his arms and you punch him in the chest. And then if he gets in trouble, you get the belt out.”
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The Overland Park, Kansas, police department received an anonymous call Thursday night after the audio was released, and police visited Hill and Espinal’s home around 8:30 p.m. A police spokesperson told USA TODAY Sports “she was fine." The spokesperson also said Hill and the child were not present, and the caller wished to remain anonymous. Police did not file a report from the visit.
Hill’s attorney, Trey Pettlon, declined comment to USA TODAY Sports when reached Friday afternoon by phone, citing confidentiality reasons. In multiple calls Friday to Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe, a member of Howe’s office declined comment and said he was unavailable.
The Chiefs issued a statement Thursday night that they learned of the audio that night, along with the public.
“We were deeply disturbed and concerned by what we heard,” the statement read. “We have great concern for Crystal, we are greatly concerned for Tyreek, but our main concern is with the young child.”
Hill “will not take part in any team activities” while the Chiefs gather more information to “make the right decision,” the team said. General manager Brett Veach reiterated that stance in a Friday afternoon news conference introducing defensive end Frank Clark, for whom Kansas City traded this week.
Hill’s March incidents – for “child abuse/neglect” and “battery” to a juvenile, according to police reports obtained by USA TODAY Sports – are not his first. Hill was kicked off the Oklahoma State football team after allegedly choking and punching Espinal in December 2014. He pled guilty in August 2015 to domestic violence and battery by strangulation.
Clark, the Chiefs’ newest acquisition, was dismissed from the Michigan football team for domestic violence issues. He was arrested, jailed and charged with first-degree domestic violence and assault against his then-girlfriend in November 2014. The charges were reduced to fourth-degree persistent disorderly conduct, and Clark completed a domestic violence course. The two are now married.
Clark hasn’t encountered further trouble since the Seahawks selected him in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2015 NFL draft. Clark played four seasons in Seattle before Kansas City acquired him with a lucrative $105.5 million agreement on Tuesday.
Clark said at the Friday news conference he learned and grew from the incident.
“I feel like when you do something like that and go through a situation like that, you can come out two sides: You can come out positive or negative. It can make or break you. I definitely feel like this is one of the things that happened in my life, amongst all the things I’ve had, that definitely made me a better person, a better father, more understanding, more compassionate and to make my heart a little bigger.”
Kansas City released Pro Bowl running back Kareem Hunt in November after a video surfaced that showed him shoving and kicking a woman. The Browns subsequently signed Hunt, who will serve an eight-game suspension for violation of the league’s personal-conduct policy.
Hill caught 162 passes for 2,662 yards and 19 touchdowns the last two seasons in Kansas City. When the district attorney announced Wednesday he wouldn’t press charges, he said he believed a crime had occurred but didn’t have evidence to establish who committed it.
It was that lack of evidence, KCTV5 said, that prompted the station to release audio that reporter Angie Ricono says she had for weeks. A source had sent the audio out of concern for the child, Ricono said. The source texted Ricono during Howe’s Wednesday news conference to release the audio. It was allegedly recorded by Espinal and sent to a friend for insurance purposes.
Hill and Espinal have lost custody of their son, per multiple reports.
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