Tyreek Hill's lawyer denies claims of abuse in letter to NFL
Warning: Story contains coarse language
Tyreek Hill's attorney has issued a four-page letter to the NFL, obtained by ESPN, denying the child abuse allegations against the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver.
Hill was told not to participate in team activities after an audio recording of a conversation between Hill and his fiancee, Crystal Espinal, became public last week. In the recording that Espinal made secretly, she says that, upon asking her 3-year-old son how he broke his arm, the child responded, "Daddy did it." She also says the child fears his father, to which Hill responds, "You need to be terrified of me, too, b---h."
In Thursday's letter, attorney N. Trey Pettlon writes that Hill intends to cooperate with the NFL's investigation and that the recording has already been made available to the league via the NFLPA.
"As has been reported, when their son complained of pain in his arm, he was taken to the hospital and examined," Pettlon writes. "I cannot comment on what was reported at that time, but he was examined and released without any indication that the accident that broke his arm was caused by Tyreek or contributed to by Tyreek, or that Tyreek was even somehow involved."
He adds that the investigation was closed without any evidence to suggest the incident was anything more than an accident.
In the recording, Espinal also mentioned Hill extending their son's arms in order to punch the child in the chest when he starts crying.
"(Hill) categorically denies he has ever 'punched' his son in the chest or anywhere on his body, or otherwise touched him in the chest in a mean-spirited manner or as a form of discipline," reads the letter.
Pettlon states that Hill has tapped his son on the chest with his finger to "redirect him" when the child is crying and has told him to "man up, buddy."
According to the letter, Hill chose not to dispute Espinal's description of "punching" in the recording in order to avoid an argument in an airport.
As for Hill's threatening words to his fiancee, Pettlon offered no defense.
"Instead of denying that his son was terrified of him a second time, something that bothered him a great deal, he became frustrated and said she should be terrified too. That comment is inexcusable, of course, and he wouldn't ask me to defend that here," the attorney writes.
Hill is currently undergoing family counseling and individual counseling.
Pettlon also notes that "all indications" show the criminal investigation into Hill's alleged battery has concluded and Hill maintains his innocence.
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