The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office has filed an aggravated assault charge against former TCU safety Jacob Fields, according to court documents.
Fields, 21, is accused of punching and kicking wide receiver Dozie Ezukanma in the head Aug. 13 inside the football team’s locker room. Ezukanma spent three days in the hospital with a brain bleed and concussion, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Fields was dismissed from the team Aug. 18 and arrested on Aug. 30.
The District Attorney’s Office complaint against Fields was filed Wednesday morning, Sept. 23, after prosecutors reviewed information received from TCU police.
Fields’ agent, Phillip ‘Red’ Miller of PM3 Sports, said in a statement shortly after the former safety’s arrest that Fields voluntarily turned himself in.
Fields was allegedly unhappy about Ezukanma playing better than him in practice before the assault, a TCU police officer wrote in his arrest warrant affidavit.
Ezukanma showed police text messages that he received in which Fields apologized and said he wished he could take it back, according to the affidavit. “I made an emotional decision cause how I felt played the last few practices,” the texts said. “I’ll pay every hospital bill and then some to make this right.”
Fields’ defense attorney, Coby DuBose, told the Star-Telegram that the team’s coaches knew about brewing tensions and did nothing to address the friction on the practice field before it erupted into a locker room fight. DuBose also disputed allegations in the affidavit that Fields sucker-punched Ezukanma and then kicked him in the head after he fell.
A source within the TCU football program disputed DuBose’s claims, and athletic director Mike Buddie said in a statement that the coaching staff handled the situation the right way.
Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Harriet Ramos covers crime and other breaking news for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.