{"id":229177,"date":"2026-04-13T01:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T01:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/229177\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T01:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T01:47:08","slug":"miamis-reuben-bain-linked-to-fatal-2024-car-accident-ahead-of-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/229177\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami’s Reuben Bain linked to fatal 2024 car accident ahead of 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Miami<\/a> defensive end Reuben Bain Jr.<\/a> is widely projected to be a Top-10 overall pick in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft, which kicks off April 23. But that projection could be in doubt following a Sunday report that linked Bain to a fatal 2024 car wreck in Miami.<\/p>\n

Bain, 21, was reportedly involved in a deadly two-car accident in March 2024 when a passenger in his car, 22-year-old Georgia college student Destiny Betts, died as a result of injuries suffered in the wreck, according to Oliver Connolly of The Read Optional<\/a>. Betts suffered \u201cincapacitating injuries\u201d when Bain\u2019s car hit another vehicle at 4 am ET, March 17, and then careened into concrete barriers on both sides of Miami\u2019s Interstate 95 before coming to a stop. Betts ultimately passed away from her injuries on June 13, 2024 following three months in a coma. <\/p>\n

The incident report reviewed by Connolly said Bain \u201coperated his vehicle in a careless or negligent manner\u201d at the time of the incident. Bain was ultimately cited for careless driving but that charge was later dismissed roughly two weeks before Betts\u2019 death in June 2024, according to Connolly. No field sobriety test was conducted at the scene, according to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs her family, we remain deeply committed to honoring her memory in a meaningful and appropriate way. Destiny\u2019s passing was the result of a tragic accident that occurred several years ago,\u201d Betts\u2019 family said in a statement to The Read Optional. \u201cWhile the loss remains incredibly painful for our family, we have worked hard to find peace and move forward. At this time, we are not seeking public attention surrounding this tragedy and respectfully request that our family\u2019s privacy be honored. We also wish Mr. Bain the best as he continues his life and career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two other Miami football players \u2014 linebacker Wesley Bissainthe<\/a> and defensive end Nyjalik Kelly<\/a> \u2014 were also passengers in Bain\u2019s car at the time of the accident, according to Connolly. Both Bissainthe and Kelly, who later transferred to UCF<\/a>, are also both eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s unclear how this 2024 incident could impact Bain\u2019s draft stock, NFL teams have long been aware of the fatal accident, according to multiple reports Sunday. That said, several NFL sources reportedly compared the news of Bain\u2019s 2024 accident coming out two weeks before the draft to former Ole Miss<\/a> offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil<\/a>\u2018s fall from potential No. 1 overall pick to No. 13 in the 2016 NFL Draft after a video of him using a gas mask as a bong broke 10 minutes before the start of the draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like it could be (Tunsil) all over again,\u201d an NFL source reportedly told The Read Optional. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like (Bain) has been transparent with us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Miami defensive end Reuben Bain Jr. is widely projected to be a Top-10 overall pick in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124,60315],"class_list":["post-229177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-rueben-bain-23-miami-central"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}