A celebrity NFL player has been barred from his team over suspicion that he abused his 3-year-old son. The Kansas City Chiefs say wide receiver Tyreek Hill cannot participate in any team sports, including offseason exercises. On a newly launched audiotape, people said to be Hill and his fiancée talk about a police investigation into the kid’s broken arm. On the tape, Hill’s fiancée accuses Hill of inflicting harm.
Joining us now is NPR’s Tom Goldman. Hi, Tom.
TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Ari.
SHAPIRO: Catch us up on the heritage of this story. I apprehend that prosecutors, to begin with, said they would not file any charges in this case of toddler abuse.
GOLDMAN: That’s proper. The DA stated he thinks that the law became devoted against the kid, and could not prove who did it. So on Wednesday of this week, there had been no charges filed in opposition to Hill or his fiancée, who, I have to add, is also now pregnant with twins.
SHAPIRO: And now there’s this audiotape. Describe where it came from and what is in it.
GOLDMAN: Yeah. It emerged the day after the prosecutor made his announcement about no fees. It was first played on a local TV station in Kansas City, Casey, KCTV. And it becomes described as a tape made in March, even as Hill and his fiancée, Crystal Espinal, were strolling through the Dubai International Airport. Now, we haven’t independently established that it’s sincerely Hill and Espinal. However, the tape is available; no person has denied its authenticity. In reality, the Chiefs, Hill’s team, say they may be deeply disturbed by what is on it. The whole tape is eleven minutes long. We have a couple of short excerpts. On this primary one, Espinal seems to accuse Hill of breaking their son’s arm. Hill speaks first, and the kid’s name, I have to say, is bleeped out on the tape.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TYREE HILL: I failed to do anything.
CRYSTAL ESPINAL: Then why does (beep) say, Daddy did it? Why? Why does (beep) say Daddy did it?
HILL: I don’t know. He says Daddy does a lot of things.
ESPINAL: Like what?
HILL: A lot of things.
ESPINAL: A 3 -12-month-old now will not lie approximately what occurred to his arm.
GOLDMAN: Now, Ari, in this subsequent clip, Hill appears to threaten Espinal. Here it is.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ESPINAL: He is afraid of you. And you say that he respects you, but he’s now longer admired.
HILL: He respects me.
