Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach told reporters Thursday night that wide receiver Tyreek Hill "will not take part in any team activities" for the foreseeable future after a television station aired audio that shows Hill telling his fiancee about punching and using a belt to discipline their son one day after prosecutors reluctantly declined to file charges in a domestic incident.
"In light of the thing that transpired tonight I did think it was appropriate to address the media on behalf of the organization," Veach said. "Earlier this evening we were made aware of the audio between Tyreek and Crystal [Espinal] ... in real time just the like general public," Veach said. "We were deeply disturbed by what we heard, deeply concerned. Obviously we had great concern for Crystal we are greatly concerned for Tyreek, but our main focus and our main concern is with the young child.
"As soon as the draft concluded after the last pick I had the chance to call Drew Rosenhaus and we decided that at this time and for the foreseeable future Tyreek Hill will not take part in any team activities. We are going to gather more information were going to evaluate this information and we will make the right decision regarding Tyreek Hill."
Police were called to Hill's home twice last month and investigators determined the 3-year-old child had been injured. On Wednesday, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said charges would not be filed, but acknowledged he was "deeply troubled'' by the situation and said "we believe a crime has occurred.'' He said there was not enough evidence to conclusively establish who committed it.
Hill released a statement through his attorney earlier Thursday in which he said his "son's health and happiness is my number one priority." Hill also said that his focus is on "working hard to be the best person for my family and our community that I can be, and the best player to help our team win."
Less than eight hours later, KCTV in Kansas City aired part of an 11-minute audio file in which Hill's fiancee, Crystal Espinal, tells Hill their son had said, "Daddy did it."
Hill denies any role in what happened to the child's arm, adding: "He says Daddy does a lot of things."
She also tells Hill their son is "terrified of you."
Hill replies, "You need to be terrified of me, too, b----."
Later in the conversation, Espinal asks Hill, "What do you do when the child is bad? You make him open up his arms and you punch him in the chest."
KCTV said the audio was sent to the station without disclosing from whom. The station said it had shared the audio with Howe's office, which did not return a message left late Thursday. Howe has acknowledged that the case could be reopened if there was new evidence.
An attorney for Hill did not respond to a request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
