Darron Lee’s murder charge keeps ex-Jets player in jail without bond
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Former NFL linebacker Darron Lee will remain behind bars as he faces first-degree murder charges in Tennessee.
Lee was detained last week. In addition to the murder charge in his girlfriend’s death, Lee is also accused of tampering 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, remains in jail without bail.
Lee is not scheduled to return to court until next month, but prosecutors signaled Wednesday that the case could lead to the death penalty.
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Former New York Jets linebacker Darron Lee was arrested by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office on February 6, 2025, and charged with first-degree murder and fabrication of evidence. (Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com/Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office)
While Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp made clear there is no final decision on whether to impose the death penalty, she did address factors that could lead to the case becoming eligible for the death penalty.
“Mr. Lee was in the same house with a woman who, for lack of a better term, was beaten to death,” Wamp told the court, arguing for the judge to revoke bail. “And his explanation makes no sense whatsoever.
FORMER NFL PLAYER DARRON LEE WAS ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY BEATING HIS 2-YEAR-OLD SON’S MOTHER
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Det. “You walked in the door, there were boxes,” he said. Brian Lockhart said, according to NewsChannel9.
“There was a lot of stuff in the living room. The deceased was lying on his back on the floor. There was blood coming up the stairs. There was blood on the 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 on the stairs.”
Darron Lee (50) of the Kansas City Chiefs sits on the bench during a game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on September 29, 2019 in Detroit. (Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
The victim in the case was living with Lee in a rented house. The home is also believed to be where Lee allegedly committed the crime over an estimated 10-day period, Lockhart testified Wednesday.
The detective said he was present during the autopsy and learned the probable cause of death was a blunt force trauma homicide. The autopsy report has not been released yet.
According to the arrest affidavit, first responders went to a home in the Chattanooga suburb of Ooltewah for a CPR call on Feb. 5, where they found the woman already dead.
Lee told deputies that the woman may have fallen in the shower, but there was a large amount of blood in different parts of the house, which was inconsistent with Lee’s statement, according to the arrest affidavit.
Darron Lee of the New York Jets runs the ball in the third quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on September 10, 2018 in Detroit. (Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
Authorities executing the search warrant found multiple types of trauma to the woman’s body, including a stab wound to her abdomen, a distinct human bite mark on her shoulder, a large bruise on her head, heavily bulging black eyes and dried blood on her face and neck, according to the affidavit.
Investigators also found alcohol, narcotics and weapons, the affidavit said.
The affidavit stated that Lee had wounds on his face, cuts on his hands, wounds on his chest and blood inside his cell phone.
Detectives also detected blood that someone had attempted to clean in multiple areas of the house, in addition to cleaning supplies near the location where tests confirmed there were blood stains but no visible blood, the affidavit said.
Lee is on probation in Florida for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in one county and battery in another, and for attempted battery in Ohio, Wamp said.
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Assistant public defender Mike Little, who represents Lee, told The Associated Press it was too early for him to make any statement.
The Jets selected Lee in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He later played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills and last appeared in an NFL game in 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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