Kansans City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill has been suspended indefinitely from team activities following the release of audio by a local news station in which Hill’s fiancée, Crystal Espinal, appears to accuse Hill of abusing their 3-year-old son.
“We were deeply disturbed by what we heard [on the recorded conversation],” general manager Brett Veach said, according to ESPN. “We were deeply concerned. Now, obviously, we have great concern for [fiancée] Crystal [Espinal]. We are greatly concerned for Tyreek. But our main focus, our main concern, is with the young child.”
The audio was released by local station KCTV5, just one day after Johnson County, Kansas District Attorney Stephen Howe announced that charges would not be filed against the two parents in the child abuse investigation surrounding an incident in which the child ended with a broken arm.
KCTV5 notes that in a Wednesday press conference, Howe strongly voiced that he believed a crime was committed but didn’t know who to charge.
Now Howe is reviewing the audio which the news station said it was told was an “insurance policy” for Espinal, who sent it to at least one friend for safekeeping.
At no point in the recording does Hill admit to breaking his son’s arm, however, the recording of the conversation allegedly held between both parents, shows at some point they discussed the incident.
“I didn’t do nothing,” a male voice in the recording could be heard saying. “That’s sad. That’s sad, bro.”
“Then why does he say ‘Daddy did it’? Why?” the woman asks.
“He says Daddy does a lot of things,” the man said.
“A 3-year old is not going to lie about what happened to his arm,” the woman retorted.
At another point, the man in the recording appears to threaten the woman after she points out that the child is “terrified” of the father.
“He is terrified of you,” the woman said of the child. “And you say that he respects you, but it’s not respect.”
“He respects me,” the man insisted.
“He is terrified of you,” the woman said.
“You need to be terrified of me, too, [expletive]” the man then says. “That’s why you can’t keep a [expletive] man.”
In another part of the audio, the woman accuses the man of making the child open his arms” so that he could “punch him in the chest.
“And then if he gets in trouble you get the belt out,” the woman adds.
According to KCTV5, currently, both Espinal and Hill have lost custody of their son. Hill also has a “no contact” order with the 3-year-old while Espinal is allowed supervised visits.