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Feb. 1, 2000 SportsLine wire reports |
Seau to replace Lewis on Pro Bowl roster Lewis usually shows aggression on the field Fight after Super Bowl party results in fatal stabbings Tagliabue acknowledges some worries about off-field violence Audio: Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne says the Ravens are worried about Ray Lewis Audio: Max Richardson Jr., Lewis' attorney, says Lewis is not guilty Audio: Richardson is confident Lewis will be found innocent Audio: Atlanta police spokesman John Quigley says Lewis was arrested for murder Audio: Byrne says his sympathies are with families of victims
Ray Lewis was at a post-Super Bowl brawl in which two people were stabbed to death but was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, his lawyer said Tuesday.
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The Baltimore Ravens linebacker, his hands shackled in front of him, appeared in court on two counts of murder in the slayings early Monday. No bail was set and he will remain jailed until a Feb. 24 preliminary hearing.
The murder charges carry life in prison or the death penalty, if prosecutors pursue it.
Lewis is the second NFL player in less than a month accused of murder. Former Carolina Panthers receiver Rae Carruth was charged with murdering his girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time of the drive-by shooting.
NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue had no comment, but Gene Washington, the NFL's chief disciplinarian, called Lewis' arrest "devastating."
"We've had a tough year as it goes anyway with the Rae Carruth situation," he told One on One sports radio network in Chicago. "We certainly, for his own good, hope that it's not true, and for the good of the NFL."
The Ravens said they have not taken any action against Lewis and have not spoken with the 24-year-old player.
Asked if the team was considering releasing Lewis, Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne said, "Until due process of the law is completed, that will not be addressed."
Several of Lewis' teammates reacted with disbelief at his arrest.
"That's my man," Ravens cornerback Rod Woodson, whose locker is next to Lewis', said from the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. "I hope it ain't true. That's all I can say."
"He's always been a good guy," another Pro Bowler, linebacker Peter Boulware, told One on One. "Everyone in the locker room likes him. I mean, he rallies our team together. I can't say enough good things about Ray."
The victims were stabbed repeatedly during a fight about 200 yards from a bar where a party had emptied into the street.
"You go out and you get around different people," Boulware said. "Some people may not like you because of who you are. They put you in bad situations. I can see that maybe that's the only reason this happened."
According to witnesses, six men fought and argued with the victims before fleeing in a black limousine, firing at least five shots as they drove away. Police found the limousine a few hours later.
"We're taking the position that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Lewis' lawyer, Max Richardson Jr., said outside court. "From what I've gathered from law enforcement officers, they know Ray didn't kill these unfortunate victims."
He said police were searching for other suspects.
"They don't know where the other two men who were involved are, so they arrested Ray," Richardson said.
Police spokeswoman Marion Lee would not comment on whether other suspects were being sought or why murder charges were filed.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that police were holding Lewis' limousine driver under guard in a hotel room while they hunted for others in the pro football star's entourage.
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| Ray Lewis is supposed to be in Hawaii on Tuesday preparing for the Pro Bowl. Instead he's in an Atlanta jail.(AP) |
Detectives said they were gathering information for murder warrants on at least two more men who were with Lewis in his limousine Monday morning, but they would not identify the men, the paper said. It said one officer believed that they were not active NFL players.
Lewis was questioned Monday and postponed a flight to Hawaii, where he was to have appeared Sunday in his third consecutive Pro Bowl after leading the NFL in tackles this season.
"I cooperated fully," Lewis told the Baltimore Sun before his arrest. He wouldn't comment further.
Richardson said he had spent only a few minutes with Lewis before the hearing.
"Ray is doing fine," he said. "He believes the system will ultimately show that he is innocent of these heinous crimes."
Lewis also faces second-degree assault charges from a Nov. 30 confrontation at a Baltimore-area bar in which he allegedly hit a woman. But authorities said Tuesday the case will not go to trial if the charge cannot be substantiated.
The victims from the Super Bowl fight were identified as Jacinth "Shorty" Baker, 21, and Richard Lollar, 24, both of suburban Decatur.
Lollar's grandmother said several of Lollar's friends told her he had been trying to break up a fight between Baker and an unidentified man when a group of men ambushed them.
Joyce Lollar, speaking from Akron, Ohio, said her grandson and his girlfriend were expecting a baby next month.
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