Antonio Brown’s Attempted Murder Plea Deal Hits Roadblock in Court

Antonio Brown walked into a Miami courtroom expecting to take a plea deal that could end his attempted murder case without prison time. Instead, he walked out still wearing his ankle monitor after the judge said she wasn't ready to sign off.

According to Local 10 Miami, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez postponed Brown's change-of-plea hearing, saying she needed more time to review the agreement his attorneys and prosecutors negotiated. Under the proposed deal, Brown would plead no contest to aggravated assault with a firearm, receive three years of probation, and potentially qualify for early termination.

"I have not had sufficient time to review all of the materials to determine anything," Tinkler Mendez said in court. She explained that most of her previous involvement with Brown's case had concerned his requests to travel and routine status hearings.

"I am just not up to speed enough to move forward with a change of plea," she said.

Brown's attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, called the delay a "setback," particularly because the former NFL star remains under GPS monitoring while the case is unresolved.

"It's another month that my client has an ankle monitor on and doesn't have closure," Eiglarsh said.

The attorney stressed that the agreement still requires approval from Tinkler Mendez, despite being negotiated with Miami-Dade prosecutors.

"The decision to accept the plea is thoroughly in the hands of the judge, and I won't presume that she will accept it," Eiglarsh said. "That said, this was carefully negotiated with the state."

The proposed agreement would dramatically reduce Brown's legal exposure. He was charged with attempted second-degree murder with a firearm over a May 16, 2025, confrontation outside a celebrity boxing event in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood.

Because prosecutors alleged Brown fired a gun during the incident, he potentially faced a mandatory minimum of 20 years and as many as 30 years in prison if convicted as originally charged.

Prosecutors accused Brown of taking a firearm from a staff member and firing twice while pursuing Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu after the two had been involved in an altercation. Nantambu told investigators that one of the bullets grazed his neck.

Brown pleaded not guilty and maintained that he acted in self-defense. His attorneys previously sought dismissal under Florida's Stand Your Ground law, arguing that Brown reasonably believed Nantambu posed a threat.

The case also followed Brown overseas and back. After the incident, he traveled to Dubai, where U.S. Marshals arrested him in November 2025 before he was extradited to Florida.

Brown was subsequently released on $25,000 bond, placed under GPS monitoring and subjected to house-arrest restrictions, although a judge later permitted limited in-state travel for work.

Nantambu, meanwhile, appeared at the hearing expecting the case to reach a resolution. He said afterward that he was ready to close the chapter and expressed no desire to see Brown incarcerated.

"We want the best for Antonio," Nantambu said. "We want him to get the healing that he needs and, hopefully, he can seek that in the free world."