KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An extended audio recording of an argument between Kansas City Chiefs star Tyreek Hill and his fiancee, Crystal Espinal, about who hurt their 3-year-old boy was broadcast on a local radio station on Tuesday.
Kansas City sports station 610 KCSP aired the entire 11-plus minute conversation, which was recorded in a Dubai airport earlier this year. Most of it was broadcast in full by TV news station KCTV5 in late April. The parts the news station omitted, which the radio station aired, included the exasperated couple arguing about the validity of a 2014 incident (in which Hill pleaded guilty to domestic abuse by strangulation), and Hill expressing lament about the couple’s relationship.
The NFL and the Chiefs have heard the entire audio, sources with knowledge of the situation told Yahoo Sports.
“… You ruined my life and you lied on me in 2014, bro,” Hill said of the incident, which took place in his Stillwater, Oklahoma, residence and resulted in him being kicked off Oklahoma State’s football team.
“And if you want to rewind that night we can rewind that night too, [expletive]. You was in my house. And did I pick you up and slam you? Hell no, I picked you up and put you out my door and after that you left. And on my son you did that, bro. And then then you get in the courtroom you want to sit up there and cry on the stand. ‘He hit me, he hit me.’ Man, come on bro.”
“Then where did the bruises come from, Tyreek?” Espinal asked.
“Did I hit you? Did I hit you, though?” Hill replied.
“I’m asking you where did the bruises come from,” Espinal said.
“Did I hit you? Tell me the truth in my eyes right now. Look at me,” Hill said.
“We’re not thinking about that,” Espinal said. “Right now the issue is [our son].”
Hill avoided jail time for the 2014 incident by pleading guilty in exchange for a deferred three-year sentence. He completed his probation requirements and the case records were expunged.
Hill found himself in more potential legal trouble in March, when officers were called to the home of Hill and Espinal and a police report from the Overland Park Police Department listed a juvenile as the alleged victim and Espinal under “others involved.”
After saying she’d think about the 2014 case in the audio, Espinal transitioned to the child abuse case, the audio of which has been previously played by the news station. In it, Espinal repeatedly accused Hill of breaking their son’s arm.
“I honestly want you to think about that night between me and you getting into an argument about the way you disciplined [our son], and even the CPS lady says you don’t do it correctly,” Espinal said,
“OK, I will listen,” Hill said. “I will listen. But like I said, though … ”
“No, you’re not listening to me. Think about why a freaking 3-year old will tell everybody and anybody that you broke his arm. Why would [our son] do that?”
Toward the end of the recording, Hill essentially expressed regret for diving into a relationship with Espinal and denied injuring their child.
“My life is supposed to be a whole lot easier right now … 2014 wasn’t supposed to happen. None of that [expletive]. But I broke my son’s arm? Come on, let’s be real, bro.
“You know how I am with kids,” Hill added. “You know how I am with [our son]. I’m very hard on him but I would never hurt my son in life.”
Espinal responds by saying their son is terrified of him, with Hill countering by saying his son respects him.
In early June, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe revealed the child abuse case against Hill was no longer an active investigation. However, an NFL player doesn’t need criminal charges brought against him to receive league discipline — all a player has to do is make the league look bad.
One significant flashpoint that surely caught the NFL’s attention is the “dumb bitch” comment, which Hill presumably had an opportunity to address when he spoke with NFL investigators during an eight-hour meeting on June 26 in Kansas City.
Sources told Yahoo Sports that during the meeting he attempted to provide clarity and context to the defense he mounted in the four-page letter he sent the league in May, in which he disputed the child abuse case and claimed to have text messages that would help explain the situation. Hill had been looking forward to meeting with investigators for some time, sources said, and felt the meeting went well.
Sources also told Yahoo Sports that the Chiefs are optimistic a ruling on the matter will come before the start of training camp, and — depending on the result of the NFL’s investigation — they are not only optimistic that he will be in attendance for the start of camp on July 26, but also of the belief they could re-engage in contract negotiations for an extension for Hill, who is entering the final year of his original rookie deal.
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