Here's the whole article for those who are interested.
STILLWATER — During a preliminary hearing on Monday, a pregnant woman testified that she was punched and choked by former Oklahoma State football player Tyreek Hill.
Crystal Espinal, who alleges that she was assaulted on Dec. 11, and Hill were in Judge Kathy Thomas’ Payne County courtroom on Monday.
Hill has been charged with domestic assault and battery by strangulation — a felony punishable by one to three years in prison and/or a $3,000 fine. One day after the alleged attack — and only six days after he scored on a 92-yard, fourth-quarter punt return to help OSU defeat Oklahoma in the Bedlam game at Norman — Hill was dismissed from the Cowboy football program.
Espinal told police in December that she and Hill had been dating since June. According to information given to Stillwater police, her age was 20 at the time of the incident and she now would be in her fifth month of pregnancy. She testified on Monday that she and Hill had sex during the evening of Dec. 11, and then “were planning on going to the movies” when he became angered by messages he saw on her phone.
Hill “threw my laptop (and) my phone into the hallway” before ordering her to leave his apartment, Espinal testified. She said she was in the hallway outside of Hill’s room, but did not leave because she wearing only a T-shirt and underwear. After she reentered the apartment, “domestic violence occurred,” she said.
In response to questions from Payne County Assistant District Attorney Lynn Hermanson, Espinal said that Hill “punched my face. ... When I tried to get up, I was put into a chokehold (for) longer than a minute.”
Espinal, who at the time of the alleged attack told police investigators that she was pregnant with Hill’s child, said Hill punched her stomach “on the left side,” and after that “grabbed my neck ... and started choking me again. ... He was pounding my head against the wall. He eventually stopped.”
When asked why she believes Hill stopped with his alleged attack, Espinal replied, “I think he had a realization moment.”
Thomas scheduled a trial-court arraignment for April 17.
“At that time,” Hill’s defense attorney Cheryl Ramsey said, “we will enter a plea of not guilty.”
A trial may not begin until the spring of 2016, Ramsey said.
The 21-year-old Hill no longer attends Oklahoma State and resides again in his home state of Georgia. During his court appearance on Monday, he was accompanied by family members. Hill did not respond to hallway questions from media members. It is not known whether he will attempt to play elsewhere this fall.
After two seasons at Garden City (Kansas) Community College, Hill signed with OSU after having been recruited also by Oklahoma, Alabama, Southern Cal, Baylor, Arkansas, Arizona State, Georgia, Nebraska and Tennessee, among others. Hill finished the 2014 season with rankings of No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 11 nationally in all-purpose yards (150.9 per game). Big 12 coaches voted him the league’s offensive newcomer of the year, and he also was a member of the Associated Press’ all-conference team.
Presented as evidence on Monday were photographs of Espinal’s injuries sustained during the alleged attack. The photographs were taken by Stillwater police Sgt. Kyle Bruce, who testified on Monday that Espinal “seemed distraught” when he interviewed her on Dec. 12, and that there were “injuries on her face and neck that were visible.”
In the original Stillwater police report, Espinal was said to have told an investigating officer that Hill “threw her around like a ragdoll. ... She explained Tyreek has a volatile temper and that he thought it was OK to punch and choke her.”
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This one tells a little more about how it started
Judge rules probable cause in case against Tyreek Hill
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Kayla Hodgin/O'Colly
Tyreek Hill leaves a Payne County Courthouse courtroom after a scheduled court appearance on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Friday, Hill pleaded guilty to a charge of domestic assault and battery by strangulation.
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Tim Ahrens, Sports Editor @ahrens_tim | Updated Mar 18, 2015
Tyreek Hill is headed to trial for an alleged crime that saw him kicked off the Cowboy football and track teams.
A Payne County district court judge ruled there was probable cause for trial in the case against former Oklahoma State football player and track athlete Tyreek Hill on Monday morning.
Hill’s trial is set for April 17. There will be a pre-trial arraignment in which Hill will plead not guilty, according to Hill’s attorney Cheryl Ramsey.
Judge Katherine Thomas presided over Hill’s preliminary hearing in a Payne County district courtroom. Hill is charged with one felony count of domestic assault and battery by strangulation for allegedly assaulting his eight-week pregnant girlfriend on Dec. 11, 2014. According to the alleged victim, she had known she was pregnant three weeks prior to the alleged assault. The investigating detective found an ultrasound photo on a mirror in Hill’s room at his apartment.
Assistant District Attorney Lynn Hermanson called two witnesses – alleged victim Crystal Espinal and Sergeant Kyle Bruce of the Stillwater Police Department – to the stand. Espinal described the events before, during and after the alleged assault occurred.
According to Espinal, it was common for she and Hill to hang out at the other’s residence, to the point she kept clothes at his apartment. The night of the incident, Espinal said she and Hill planned to go to the movies at about 8 or 9 p.m., and Hill decided to take a shower.
Before taking a shower, Hill took Espinal’s phone and looked through it, which Espinal said from the witness stand was not normal for Hill to do. Espinal said she discovered this because her phone is synced with her Mac through iCloud, which led to her discovering Hill was texting people with her phone.
Espinal said she knocked on the bathroom door because she wanted her phone back, at which point Hill opened the door, gave her the phone and closed it again.
According to Espinal, when Hill left the bathroom, he was upset and would not talk to Espinal. Espinal later said while being questioned Hill was upset because someone (Espinal did not specify who) texted her saying Hill had been “hitting on high schoolers.”
Espinal said she then sat on a chair and used her laptop while Hill sat on the bed, waiting for Hill to talk. Hill then allegedly went over to the chair, took her laptop and threw it into the hallway. Espinal took her phone out, and Hill threw it into the hallway as well.
When Espinal, who said she was only wearing a T-shirt and panties at the time, got up to retrieve her belongings, Hill closed the door and left her in the hallway. Hill had previously told her twice to leave the apartment.
When Hill’s attorney, Ramsey, asked Espinal why she didn’t leave, she said she did not want to leave without wearing any pants and did not want Hill’s roommates – who were there at the time but have not been called as witnesses – to see her not wearing pants.
Espinal said she then opened the door, which was unlocked, to retrieve the rest of her belongings; it was at this point Hill pushed her onto the bed and began to punch her in the left eye. When she tried to get up and push him off her, Hill allegedly used on arm to put her in a choke hold for longer than a minute, which caused her to have trouble breathing.
Once Hill let go of her, Espinal said she collapsed to the ground as she tried to regain her breath. Hill then allegedly grabbed her shirt to try to pull her, but it tore. Hill then grabbed her by the hair and began to punch the left side of her stomach. Espinal said she told Hill to stop because she feared for the life of her child.
Hill then allegedly pushed her against the wall and, with both hands, grabbed her neck and began to hit her head against the wall. Espinal said she had no trouble breathing at this time. Once Hill stopped, he left the room for 5-10 minutes and was on the phone with his grandmother, according to Espinal. Espinal then called her friend to pick her up and also called her aunt to inform her of what had happened.
Espinal’s friend then picked her up and drove her to the hospital, where she was treated for her injuries. Later, Bruce – who is a sergeant in SPD’s investigation unit and has done investigation work for six years – was contacted by the district attorney’s office to look into the matter.
This led to Bruce contacting Espinal by phone, arranging a meeting at her apartment on campus at OSU and taking photos of her injuries. Bruce also obtained a search warrant to retrieve Espinal’s torn shirt from Hill’s apartment, at which point he noticed the ultrasound photo on Hill’s mirror. Bruce said neither Hill nor Espinal’s phones were examined for information or damage.
The defense tried several times to cast Espinal’s story and injuries in doubt. Ramsey attempted to establish that the bruises came from Espinal and Hill having rough sexual intercourse; some of the bruises came the day after the alleged assault occurred, and the couple had sexual intercourse about an hour before Hill decided to take a shower, according to Espinal. Espinal said she had gotten hickeys and bruises before during sexual intercourse with Hill, but these bruises were unrelated.
Ramsey also asked Espinal several times whether she had been to a psychologist for self-mutilation before, but Thomas overruled the questioning as it was not relevant to the case.
Thomas found probable cause despite the defense’s attempts to prove the evidence provided was not sufficient and the lack of witnesses. Hill will go on trial April 17 and will face a prison sentence of one to three years and/or a $3,000 fine.
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