Where does the Tyreek Hill investigation go from here?

Let’s take a look from the legal side on the investigation into Tyreek Hill after today’s press conference from the Johnson County District Attorney.

Johnson County, Kansas District Attorney Steve Howe held a press conference on Wednesday to update the public on the status of the legal situation Tyreek Hill and his fiancee Crystal Espinal have found themselves in. Let’s take a look at the information that has been provided, the background of the investigation, and what this means moving forward from a legal perspective.

To recap, two separate police reports surfaced at the home address of Hill and his fiancee that indicated injury to a minor child, their 3-year-old son. These reports occurred in early March of this year. No criminal charges had been filed against either party. Their minor son had been removed from the home just last week as Hill and Espinal went through the juvenile court or family court system. For more details on that, check out this article written last week.

On Wednesday, Howe held a press conference to update the public on the status of the investigation into the allegations of child abuse in the Hill-Espinal household. The D.A. announced the following: No charges were going to be filed against Hill or Espinal. The DA believes a crime occurred but lacked sufficient evidence to prove this beyond a reasonable doubt.

So what does this all mean? First, while no charges are filed today, that doesn’t mean that charges won’t be filed in the future. In Kansas, there is a five-year statute of limitations, which means if new evidence surfaces, charges could still be brought against either party. Second, it is important to note that the D.A. believes a crime occurred, but they were unable to prove who did it.

In criminal cases, the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt. The D.A. did not believe that they could prove this to a jury. The justice system is built on the idea that you are innocent until proven guilty. Because the information obtained was insufficient to prove one did something beyond a reasonable doubt, the D.A. chose not to press charges. However, they did state that they believed a crime had occurred and this, in itself, is troubling.

Finally, this remains separate from the current family court case. There is an ongoing Child Protective Services investigation that could bring new information resulting in charges, but more than anything, CPS will be involved along with the state to continue to rehabilitate Hill and Espinal and place their son back in their custody. Most importantly, the D.A. stated their son is currently safe.

So what happens from here? It’s really anyone’s guess. We are probably never going to see actual records from these proceedings due to the fact that there is a minor involved. The ultimate and most important thing in this case is that the minor child is cared for and is safe. Protecting the child by sealing records is just one thing the state can do. They also have to rely on the family court to ensure that Hill and Espinal learn from their mistakes. The NFL, in my opinion, will likely hand down a suspension to Hill due to his involvement, but what the suspension looks like is also anyone’s guess.

Lastly, and I think this is most important, we have to set aside the fact that this is an NFL superstar and remember that there is a child that was hurt. The best and only thing we should hope for is that the child is safe, remains safe in the future, and never has to go through something like this again.