Crystal Espinal filed a petition in Johnson County Thursday seeking to prove that Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill is the father of her newborn twins and establish supervised parenting time for him and child support.
Filed in Johnson County District Courts civil division, the petition states that the twins were born this month and reside with Espinal. They carry her last name, the court filing said.
The petition was filed to determine the Respondents (Hills) paternity of the minor children, to confer and impose upon Respondent all the rights, privileges, duties and obligations accompanying the father/child relationship, the petition said, to determine custody and residency of the minor children, to establish an appropriate parenting time schedule and to establish appropriate child support.
Espinals legal counsel is Susanna Coxe, of Safehome, an organization in Johnson County that supports survivors of domestic violence. An email and call to Coxe was not immediately returned Thursday evening.
The filing also states that Espinal and Hill are not married, never have been married, and do not intend to be married.
It requests that the court find that it is in the best interests of the minor children that the Petitioner (Espinal) have sole legal custody and residency of the minor children, that the Respondent (Hill) pay appropriate child support to the Petitioner, and for such other and further relief as the Court deems fair, just and equitable.
This comes four months after the two were involved in a child abuse probe involving their son who was 3 at the time.
News surfaced in mid-March that Overland Park police took two reports at Hills Johnson County home, one for battery and the other for child abuse and neglect. The police reports, dated March 5 and March 14, involved a juvenile.
The Star reported on April 18 that sources said the child was removed from the custody of Hill and Espinal. It isnt clear if that status has changed.
On April 24, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe held a news conference and announced he would not be filing charges in the case. At that time, Howe said he believed a crime had been committed, but couldnt prove who did it.
Howe told The Star last month that the criminal child abuse probe is not an active investigation.
Hill has been suspended from the Chiefs since April 25.
NFL investigators didnt meet with Hill until late last month. The interview, which took place in Kansas City and lasted eight hours, was conducted by NFL Special Counsel for Investigations Lisa Friel, sources told The Star. Jennifer Gaffney, who works with Friel, was also reportedly present, along with Hills legal representation.
During the investigation, the NFL obtained the entire 11-minute audio recording of a conversation between Hill and Espinal, a source told The Star. The audio, recorded by Espinal, was first aired in clips on a local television station on April 25, hours before general manager Brett Veach announced Hills suspension.
The full audio, played by 610 AM earlier this week, filled in the gaps of the recording initially played by KCTV-5 in abbreviated clips.
