Jabari Bird Charged with Threatening Witness in Domestic Violence Case

Boston Celtics guard Jabari Bird was alleged in court documents to have "choked his girlfriend more than a dozen times during a reported act of domestic violence in September" and also "threatened to kill her," according to John R. Ellement and Travis Andersen of the Boston Globe.

Bird pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and battery on a household or family member, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping, and strangulation or suffocation in September after he was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to additional charges of witness intimidation and threatening to commit a crime on Wednesday.

Those charges were added after the woman informed authorities during an interview Sept. 13 that Bird said while assaulting her, "If you don't stop talking I'm going to kill you" and, "Tell anyone about this, I don't care where you are I'll find you and I'll kill you."

Per court documents, the woman and Bird began having an argument on Sept. 7 in Bird's residence in Brighton, Massachusetts, due to trust issues Bird was having. The woman said Bird "launched into a violent, lengthy attack, choking her approximately 12 times and releasing her neck whenever she began to go limp, allowing her to catch her breath before resuming the assault."

She told police she lost consciousness and woke up underneath his bed, when he then "began kicking her when she poked her head out from under the bed" and was grabbing her ankles and dragging her away from the door when she tried to escape.

Per court filings, the assault concluded when Bird began showed "seizure-like" symptoms and the woman put him on a bed, where he fell asleep, before she left his residence. 

Additionally, "Police also noted that Celtics trainer Art Horne had called 911 around 9:40 p.m. that night after he received a text message from the woman. She had texted Horne a screenshot of Bird's threat to kill himself if she didn't return to the apartment."

Bird, 24, has been away from the Celtics since he was arraigned, and the NBA is investigating the situation. He played in 13 games for the team last season.