A day after it was reported that three Eastern Michigan players were arrested for assault, more information related to the alleged incident has come out.
Mlive.com is reporting that the three players – Darius Scott, Quincy Jones, and Jairockeis Jones – are accused of beating a man named Demarko Taylor, the cousin of Kristopher Pratt, the man who shot and killed former EMU wide receiver Demarius Reed last year. Reed was just 20 years old.
Police said that the incident occurred at 12:49 p.m. on August 29 in Ypsilanti. Taylor suffered “a broken facial bone and stitches and was taken to a local hospital.” Taylor was in stable condition following the assault. Police said no weapons were used.
Taylor spoke with the Ann Arbor News Thursday about the incident. He said he was walking home when he saw the three players drive past him.
He said he was with two friends and told them, “Watch, they’re going to turn around and jump me.” Not long after, he said the Dodge sedan the three players were in turned back around. Taylor said he tried to talk to them, saying he had nothing to do with Reed’s murder, but the players didn’t listen.
Taylor testified against Pratt and the other suspect, Ed Thomas, back in January in a preliminary examination. Taylor testified that he was with Pratt and Thomas the night of the murder, but parted ways with the two when they left a party. Pratt and Thomas later returned to a party, but Taylor went back to his apartment, which was in the same complex where the murder took place.
Pratt eventually agreed to a plea deal on second-degree murder charges for which he will serve 18-30 years in prison. Thomas was acquitted.
Taylor said he thinks the trio wants “revenge,” even though he maintains he was not involved with the murder.
“They think I have something to with it, and I do not,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he had previously been confronted on campus earlier in the year by the EMU players, who were charged Sunday and are out of jail on bond. The three have a pretrial hearing set for September 8.
Scott attended Simeon Academy in Chicago with Reed. Quincy Jones and Jairockeis Jones both played receiver alongside Reed.
An EMU Athletics spokesman said Wednesday that the three players, none of whom played against Morgan State on Saturday, are still on the team. The players were not listed on the team depth chart for this weekend’s game at Florida.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Arrested Eastern Michigan players accused of beating cousin of man who killed Demarius Reed
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