The Dallas Cowboys and second-year defensive back Kelvin Joseph received some good news from the Dallas Police Department last weekend. Police had officially cleared Kelvin Joseph of any wrongdoing in a drive-by shooting that happened in March outside a Dallas bar.
Although he was never arrested for his involvement in the shooting, Joseph was questioned by police after videos showed the football player in an altercation with the murdered man, Cameron Ray, just minutes before the shooting.
Video footage later showed a black SUV slowly driving by Ray, at which point at least one person inside the vehicle fired a gun, hitting Ray, who was later pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital.
Joseph’s attorney explained that although he was in the car, “Kelvin Joseph did not shoot Cameron Ray… Kelvin was unarmed and was not looking for violence. He found himself in a situation that escalated without his knowledge or consent.”
Still, Joseph did not report the crime he likely witnessed until after video footage suggesting his possible involvement became public.
The Cowboys have maintained that Joseph was not involved in the incident and have been preparing to have him on the field for the 2022 season. The news that Joseph would not face criminal charges is the first step, but he could still face disciplinary action from the NFL, which has yet to conclude its own investigation into the matter.
“I understand the concern, and I just want you to know that when the situation occurred, we had a lot of internal conversation that was really in-depth,” said Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Mike McCarthy, speaking with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Based off the information we’ve been given, we felt it was important to support him.”
The Cowboys made it clear that they anticipated Joseph would be available for the upcoming season within days of the player being questioned by police. With training camp having begun on July 25 in Oxnard, California, Joseph’s coaches and teammates continue to have his back.
“He’s been around,” quarterback Dak Prescott said recently. “He’s been in the building. A situation like that, none of us can put ourselves in his shoes or know what to do honestly. You let the people that get paid to do that, handle those things.”
It is unclear why Joseph did not immediately report the crime or what his state of mind was following the shooting. Police were only able to identify the suspects after Joseph spoke with them about the incident on April 18. The two individuals arrested for the murder by the Dallas Police Department are Aries Jones, 28, and Tivione English, 21, both from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, like Joseph, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The victim’s stepmother, Krista Wigfall, expressed frustration at how the police handled the case, suggesting that had Kelvin Joseph not been a football player, he would have been treated differently. “It feels like a kick in the face that Dallas police didn’t open a case on him,” she said.
Since the incident, the OT Tavern has closed after the City of Dallas filed a lawsuit claiming that the business had not taken sufficient steps to prevent crime. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, community members had filed complaints for years regarding the business, with neighborhood association member Darren Dattalo claiming that the area was “fed up.”
Being a member of a professional sports team has it privileges. Kelven Joseph was in a car involved in a drive-by shooting that resulted in the death of a person. In every other similar case, everybody in the car is equally guilty. I wonder how much Jerry Jones had to cough up to get him cleared.