The former fiancee of suspended Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill filed a petition in a Kansas court seeking to prove that he is the father of her newborn twins and establish child support payments.
Hill and his now-former partner Crystal Espinal had been in the news recently as he was under investigation by the Kansas Department of Children and Families for possible child abuse, battery or neglect, of their three-year-old son, whose arm was broken during a March incident at Hill’s home.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe announced in April that he would not be filing charges against Hill, but reversed course days later, re-opening the probe when audio emerged in which Hill purportedly threatened Espinal. In early June, Howe’s office acknowledged that the re-opened investigation is no longer active.
Espinal was pregnant throughout much of that ordeal but has since given birth to twins, who, according to a court filing seen by The Kansas City Star, live with her and carry her last name.
The purpose of the petition was to ‘determine the Respondent’s [Hill’s] paternity of the minor children, to confer and impose upon Respondent all the rights, privileges, duties and obligations accompanying the father/child relationship.’
Futhermore, the petition was filed ‘to determine custody and residency of the minor children, to establish an appropriate parenting time schedule and to establish appropriate child support.’
The filing goes on to state that the two are ‘are not married, never have been married, and do not intend to be married.’
Espinal is requesting full custody and that Hill pay child support.
It is not clear where their three-year-old son has been living. He was reportedly taken away from the couple during the child abuse investigation.
Hill has been in trouble with the law before.
In 2015, he pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation following a 2014 incident with Espinal while the two attended Oklahoma State. She was pregnant with their son at the time.
While entering his plea, Hill told a judge that he ‘did something I shouldn’t have done’ and that ‘I let my feelings take control of me,’ according to ESPN’s reporting.
Hill was kicked off the team at Oklahoma State and wound up at West Alabama. When they drafted Hill in 2016, the Chiefs explained that he was undergoing counseling.
Following the child abuse investigation, the Chiefs announced in late April that Hill has been barred from team activities.
Hill could be subject to discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy, even though there currently is no criminal investigation surrounding the case at this time.
In the just released section of the recording, played by 610 KCSP radio, Hill is heard telling Cyrstal Espinal that he ‘didn’t touch you in 2014.’