Who is Tevin Biles-Thomas? Simone Biles' brother acquitted of triple murder
CLEVELAND, OHIO: Tevin Biles-Thomas, the brother of Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, was acquitted of the murder charges against him on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. In May, a mistrial was declared in the case and he was eventually acquitted in a retrial this week. According to CNN, Judge Joan Synenberg from Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in Ohio granted a Rule 29 motion in the acquittal, citing lack of evidence.
Biles-Thomas was charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, and felony assault in a triple homicide incident from 2018 in Cleveland. After his acquittal, he was confronted in the courtroom by the mother of one of the victims. "He killed my baby! You know he killed my baby!" the woman reportedly screamed and charged towards Biles-Thomas before she was restrained by the police. Later, Joseph Patituce, the lawyer for Biles-Thomas stated that he empathizes with the distressed mother. His sister Simone Biles has not issued any statement after his acquittal.
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my brother tevin | everyone says we look like twins but we don't see it pic.twitter.com/WnljD48rMQ
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 11, 2017
Who is Tevin Biles-Thomas?
Biles-Thomas was 24-years-old when the infamous Airbnb homicide took place on New Year's Eve in 2018. He was an active-duty US Army official at that time. The fatal shooting reportedly occurred shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve at an Airbnb rental apartment above a pizza shop in Cleveland's Brooklyn Centre neighborhood. According to authorities, a fight broke out in the apartment after uninvited guests arrived at a party there.
Simone Biles' brother was accused of opening fire on the group, which resulted in the death of Devaughn Gibson, 23, DelVaunte Johnson, 19, and Toshon Banks, 21. Two others were also injured in the incident, including a 21-year-old man who was shot in the back of the head and a 23-year-old woman who was shot in the arm. Officials said by the time they arrived at the scene, the shooter or shooters had fled, and no weapons could be recovered.
Biles-Thomas was arrested nine months later on August 29, 2019, from Fort Stewart, Georgia. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. After his acquittal on the charges, his lawyer Joseph Patituce issued a statement saying, "This was a horrible tragedy, three families lost three family members and you know, absolutely horrific. So, we understand emotions were running high. But today, Tevin Biles was vindicated, what he's waited to get for the last two and half years......because he is frankly innocent of these charges and today we were able to see that the state had absolutely no evidence that he was guilty of this offense."