Six Western Kentucky football players and one former player have been indicted on charges stemming from an alleged attack at a fraternity house back in March.
Quinton A. Baker, 19; Xavier D. Lane, 20; Tyler Obee, 18; and Cecil C. Stallings, 20, are facing the most serious charges, which include complicity to wanton endangerment, complicity to assault and criminal trespass. The four men face up to six years each in prison if convicted. Andrew O’Bryan, a 19-year-old who recently transferred to Eastern Kentucky, was charged with menacing and criminal trespass while Jachour H. Pearson, 19, and Christopher R. Johnson, 21, were each charged with criminal trespass
The players are accused of arriving at the PIKE frat house on March 4 and attacking Jerald Armfield, a PIKE alumnus, when he asked them to leave. Brian Lowder, the attorney representing Baker, Lane and Obee, acknowledged that his clients did not handle the confrontation “the right way” but said their side of the story has gone untold. Here’s more from WBKO:
Lowder said the previous night two WKU football players were assaulted at the PIKE house – one was repeatedly called racial slurs – and those two players later encountered a WKU police officer who did not further investigate that incident, provoking the Western Kentucky players to take matters into their own hands.
Lowder said when players arrived at the PIKE house the following night, Armfield was contacted as the chapter’s security point man, but chose not to notify authorities and instead attempted to handle the matter in his own way.
The police report stated that several football players were wearing masks and attacked two individuals when they arrived at the frat house. The six players who are currently on the team have been suspended indefinitely from all football activities.
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