A dispute over the timing of cheering at a 12U select softball game in Sugar Land, Texas, ended with two parents in the Fort Bend County Jail, a father hospitalized, and a grandfather with a broken hip. Police and court documents say it all started with a parent cheering right before a pitch.
- When and where: Saturday, Oct. 24, at Imperial Park in Sugar Land, during a game between two 12-year-old select teams, Illusions Gold 2033 and Timbergrove Thunder.
- The response: Sugar Land police arrived around 7:30 p.m. after reports of an unconscious man at the complex.
- The arrests: Kiarious Hall was charged with assault causing bodily injury. His wife, Jazmine Hall, was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge involving bodily injury. Both were taken to the Fort Bend County Jail.
- The injuries: An attorney for the injured father, Steve Shellist, told ABC13 in Houston that his client suffered a broken jaw, a fractured skull, and three brain bleeds, and remained hospitalized. Grandfather Gary Greaser said he needed seven stitches in his chin and also suffered extensive scrapes and a broken hip.
- The investigation: The case remains under investigation. Shellist said he is talking with the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office and wants prosecutors to consider upgrading the charges.
What the documents say
According to the affidavit, Kiarious Hall told police a man tied to the opposing team confronted him about cheering just before a pitch. Hall said he kept cheering, the argument grew, and a second man joined in. He told officers one man elbowed him and the other poked his chest, and that he acted in self-defense.
Investigators reviewed a witness video. The officer wrote that it showed Hall swinging a metal water bottle with a handle and striking one man in the face, and that the man fell and lost consciousness. The officer also noted the camera angle made it unclear whether the other man ever touched Hall. The footage then showed Hall swinging the bottle at the second man before the two traded punches, the affidavit states.
Jazmine Hall then entered the fight and threw punches at a man fighting her husband, the officer wrote. The brawl spilled into nearby bushes before bystanders broke it up. Police noted that witnesses seemed to side with people from their own teams, which made the video and physical evidence key.
Greaser said he stepped in after seeing the man struck, and described the original complaint as bad sportsmanship to get loud as the pitch comes in.
Fallout
Jazmine Hall was an assistant principal at Lamar Junior High School in Lamar CISD. The district said she voluntarily reported the incident to Human Resources and resigned effective Monday, Oct. 26. Lamar CISD said the incident was not connected to a school event and that it holds employees, especially leaders, to high standards of professional conduct.
Softball On SI reached out to the Illusions Gold 2033 coach about the incident and the family's team status and had not received a response at publication.
Source: Softball On SI