Former Miami DB Rashaun Jones Arrested, Charged with 2006 Murder of Bryan Pata

Former Miami football player Rashaun Jones was arrested and charged with the 2006 murder of teammate Bryan Pata, per David Ovalle of the Miami Herald.

Pata was shot in the head and killed outside his apartment after returning from practice on Nov. 7, 2006. There were no witnesses and it remained an unsolved case for nearly 15 years.

On Thursday, Miami-Dade police arrested Jones, 35, who had previously been considered a suspect by the police department according to documents obtained by ESPN's Paula Lavigne and Elizabeth Merrill in 2020.

Lavigne and Merrill conducted a detailed investigation into the murder in November 2020, including the possibility of Jones' involvement.

"What happened 12 years ago, happened 12 years ago," he said in April 2019. "It’s got nothing to do with me. ... I didn’t do it."

Jones had previously dated Pata's girlfriend, Jada Louella Brody, and the two players had gotten into multiple fistfights about it.

During the night of the murder, Jones, a defensive back for the Hurricanes, reportedly skipped a mandatory team meeting. He was suspended from the team at the time for multiple positive marijuana drug tests.

Pata was considered a promising football prospect, entering college as a 4-star recruit and the No. 9 defensive tackle in the country, per 247Sports. He tallied 8.5 sacks across parts of two seasons in Miami and was projected to be a mid-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft before his death.