NFL Stunned at Lewis's Murder Charge

NFL Stunned as Raven's Lewis is Charged With Murder

Arrest comes after Commissioner criticizes off-the-field behavior

Atlanta, Georgia, January 31, 2000 -- Just three days after NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said that the issue of NFL players’off-the-field behavior was a matter of concern, Baltimore Ravens all-pro linebacker Ray Lewis was charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of two people after a post-Super Bowl party in Atlanta. Lewis' charges is the second homicide allegedly caused by one the league's players. The other involves former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth, charged with murdering Cherica Adams, who was pregnant with his child. [click here]

Lewis, who was supposed to be in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl, was charged the day after the stabbing. According to the New York Times, Lewis’s lawyer Max Richardson Jr., said he was not involved in the murders. "We’re taking the position he was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Richardson said. "From what I’ve gathered from law enforcement officials, they know Ray didn't kill these unfortunate victims. They don’t know where the other two men who were involved are, so they arrest Ray."

The preliminary hearing in the case was set for Feb. 24. No bond was set, and Lewis will probably remain in custody, unless he is freed on bond by a higher court judge, released by a local grand jury, or released by the police if they determine he had nothing to do with the murders.

Lewis was in trouble last November, arrested and charged with second-degree assault after a woman said Lewis punched her in the face, sending her tumbling against the bar in a Baltimore area nightclub. Lewis was expected to stand trial Feb. 9, but that date will be delayed.

Tagliabue asserted that the league did not have a greater problem with by its members than society at large.