Judge orders ex-NFL player Darron Lee held without bond as prosecutors weigh death penalty
Former NFL linebacker Darron Lee will remain behind bars as he faces a first-degree murder charge in Tennessee.
Lee was taken into custody last week. In addition to the murder charge in the death of his girlfriend, Lee faces a charge of tampering with or fabricating evidence.
On Wednesday, a Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge ruled that Lee, who spent the first three years of his professional football career with the New York Jets, would stay jailed without bond.
Lee is not scheduled to return to court until next month, but prosecutors on Wednesday signaled the case could qualify for the death penalty.
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While Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp made it clear there is no final decision concerning the pursuit of the death penalty, he did cite factors that could result in the case becoming eligible for capital punishment.
"Mr. Lee was in a home with a female (who) was, for lack of a better term, beaten to death," Wamp said in court, arguing for the judge to withhold bond. "And the explanation that he gave doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
"You walked in the door, there were boxes," Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Det. Brian Lockhart said, according to NewsChannel9.
"A lot of stuff in the living room. The deceased was in the floor lying on her back. There was blood going up the staircase. On the hand railing there was blood. On the walls, there was blood. On the floor in the living room there was blood. On the floor in the hallway and the stairs."
The victim in the case had been living in a rental home with Lee. The house is also believed to have been the site where Lee is alleged to have carried out the crime over an estimated 10-day period, Lockhart testified Wednesday.
The detective said he was present during the autopsy and learned the potential cause of death was blunt force trauma homicide. An autopsy report has not yet been released.
According to an arrest affidavit, first responders on Feb. 5 went to a home in the Chattanooga suburb of Ooltewah for a call of CPR in progress, where they found the woman already dead.
Lee told deputies the woman might have fallen in the shower, but, according to an arrest affidavit, there were extensive amounts of blood in different areas of the house that were inconsistent with Lee's statement.
Authorities carrying out a search warrant found multiple types of trauma to the woman's body, including a stab wound to her abdomen, an apparent human bite mark on her shoulder, a large bruise on her head, black eyes with heavy swelling and dried blood on her face and neck, according to the affidavit.
Investigators also found alcohol, narcotics and a gun, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said Lee had a facial injury, lacerations on his hands, wounds on his chest and blood inside the case of his cellphone.
Detectives also identified blood that someone attempted to clean up in multiple areas of the house, in addition to cleaning supplies near where testing confirmed there had been blood stains but no blood was visible, the affidavit said.
Wamp said Lee was on probation in Florida for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in one county and battery in another and on probation in Ohio for attempted battery.
Mike Little, a deputy public defender representing Lee, told The Associated Press it was premature for him to make any statements.
The Jets selected Lee in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He later played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, last appearing in an NFL game in 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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