One day after local authorities declined to bring charges of child abuse against Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill or his fiancée, Crystal Espinal, for an incident that occurred back in March that led to Hill’s 3-year-old son suffering a broken arm, audio surfaced that has caused the decision to be called into question. The audio comes was acquired by KCTV5 News in Kansas City from Espinal, who viewed this as an “insurance policy.”
A recording of Tyreek Hill and his fiancee Crystal Espinal was an "insurance policy" for Crystal, given to a friend, was then given to KCTV. It's airing now.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) April 25, 2019
The recording includes 11 minutes of audio, and while, per Yahoo Sports, it is unclear if prosecutors had the tape prior to Wednesday, it is now in their possession.
KCTV said the recording of Tyreek Hill and Crystal Espinal was 11 minutes long and the Johnson County DA has the audio now.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) April 25, 2019
Here is a collection of what Hill said on the recording. A warning that the recording is disturbing and includes explicit language.
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) April 25, 2019
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."
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) April 25, 2019
From the recording:
Crystal: He’s scared of you. He’s terrified. And you grabbed onto him, somehow or he fell, one of the two.
Tyreek: I didn’t do nothing. That’s sad. That’s sad bro. That’s sad.
Crystal: Then why does (he) say Daddy did it? Why did he say Daddy did it?— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) April 25, 2019
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."
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) April 25, 2019
Crystal Espinal: "I rode for you against that detective & the CPS people. They said time & time again that he literally kept saying 'Daddy punches me.'
"Which you do when he starts crying. What do you do? You make him open up his arms & you punch him in the chest."
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) April 25, 2019
There is no word on whether this tape will lead to a change in Wednesday’s decision by the authorities. District attorney Stephen M. Howe explained that the decision to not file charges stemmed from an inability to determine who committed the crime against Hill’s son.
“This office has reviewed all the evidence compiled by these agencies and has declined to file charges against Tyreek Hill and Crystal Espinal,” Howe said. “We are deeply troubled by this situation and are concerned about the health and welfare of the child in question. We believe a crime has occurred. However, the evidence in this case does not conclusively establish who committed this crime.”
The Chiefs have not commented on the existence of the audio.
