Report: Tyreek Hill to Meet with NFL Investigators Amid Child Abuse Allegations

Joseph Zucker @@JosephZuckerFeatured ColumnistJune 24, 2019

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill in action during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Carson, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)

Kelvin Kuo/Associated Press

Investigators from the NFL will meet with Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill this week, according to Yahoo Sports' Terez Paylor.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the meeting will take place Wednesday.

The Chiefs announced in April they suspended Hill from team activities after KCTV5 in Kansas City shared audio of him speaking with his fiancee, Crystal Espinal, about their three-year-old son's broken arm.

Prosecutors in Johnson County, Kansas, announced June 7 they wouldn't be pursuing charges against Hill or Espinal unless more evidence came to light regarding allegations of child abuse.

The Kansas City Star's Steve Vockrodt and Brooke Pryor reported March 15 that Hill was the subject of an investigation by authorities due to his son's injury.

In the audio obtained by KCTV5, Espinal told Hill their son is "terrified" of him, to which Hill responded she should "be terrified of me, too" (warning: tweets contain profanity):

Nate Taylor @ByNateTaylor
Crystal Espinal: "He is terrified of you. And you say that he respects you, but it's not respect." Tyreek Hill: "He respects me." Crystal: "He is terrified of you." Hill: "You need to be terrified of me, too, bitch. That's why you can't keep a fucking man."

Nate Taylor @ByNateTaylor
Crystal Espinal: "He started crying & you were like, 'Shut up, shut up, stop crying, stop crying.'" Tyreek Hill: "Right." Crystal Espinal: "He kept crying because he was scared. He's terrified. You grabbed onto him somehow or he fell? 1 of the 2." Hill: "I didn't do nothing."

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Nate Taylor @ByNateTaylor
Crystal Espinal: "Then why does he say, 'Daddy did it.'? Why?" Tyreek HIll: "He says Daddy does a lot of things." Crystal Espinal: "A 3-year-old is not going to lie about what happened to his arm."

Hill's lawyer, N. Trey Pettlon, wrote a letter to the NFL denying the allegations presented in the recording.

"(Hill) categorically denies he has ever 'punched' his son in the chest or anywhere on his body, or otherwise touched him in the chest in a mean-spirited manner," Pettlon said, per the Associated Press' Dave Skretta.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted the NFL's personal conduct policy allows the league to levy a suspension even if a player isn't formally charged with a crime.

Paylor wrote Hill's legal representatives are "expected" to be on hand for his meeting with the NFL's investigators and speculated the meeting "could set the stage for him to potentially be ready to suit up for training camp, which starts in late July."

Hill is entering his fourth season with the Chiefs, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2016 draft.