Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill will not face any criminal charges for accusations of child abuse against him.
On Wednesday, the Johnson County, KS District Attorney Steve Howe held a press conference where he announced that authorities have declined to file criminal child abuse charges against Hill or the child's mother, Crystal Espinal.
Howe assured the media that Hill's status did not sway the result of the investigation, stating that he hasn't spoken to the Kansas City Chiefs or the NFL. Despite the closed criminal investigation, Howe disclosed that the office is working with the Department for Children and Families to conduct an ongoing child protection inquiry to secure the child's future safety. Due to the nature of the crime, Howe was restricted from going into explicit detail. He did state that his office is "certain" a crime took place, but they were unable to conclude whether Hill or Espinal was the culprit.
"We are very concerned by the situation," Howe stated before alluding to how a lack of cooperation with authorities limited them from finding out who was behind the abuse.
"A child has been hurt. So, yes, as a prosecutor and a father of four kids, it’s frustrating you can’t do anything about it... it's much better to let a guilty person go free than to convict an innocent person."
Although neither of the parents have been taken into custody, Howe hinted that the child might have been removed from their custody by ensuring reporters that the minor is "safe."
According to Howe, the criminal investigation looked into both the March 5 and March 14 reports of abuse and neglect against Hill and Espinal. Though he couldn't directly confirm the reports that police responded to Hill's home as a result of these incidents, he did mention that his office usually only proceeds with investigations when uniformed officials file reports. Howe concluded the press conference by explaining that his office will not follow the lead of Kansas' Department for Children and Families and not report anything to the media.
"I know DCF is involved in this and I’m going to let DCF handled this the way they do which isn’t in the public," Howe said. "What I can assure the public is, [the child] safe."
