Bryce Dejean-Jones shot and killed

[Vin+ 3,121]

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2016/05/nba-player-bryce-dejean-jones-dies-in-dallas-county-at-age-23.html/

 

Updated at 5:20 p.m.

 

NBA player Bryce Dejean-Jones was shot and killed early Saturday after he broke into a Dallas apartment he believed was his girlfriend’s and instead startled a man he didn’t know, according to police and his agent.

 

The 23-year-old New Orleans Pelicans guard “kicked open the front door” to a unit in the Camden Belmont Apartments, just east of Central Expressway and Fitzhugh Avenue, about 3:20 a.m., police said.

 

Police said the man who lived there woke up, grabbed his handgun and “called out” to the intruder. But he got no answer.

 

When Dejean-Jones kicked the door to the bedroom, police said, the man fired, apparently in self-defense.

 

Dejean-Jones ran out of the apartment and “collapsed in the breezeway,” police said. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

 

The Dallas County medical examiner’s office confirmed his death Saturday, saying an autopsy had not yet been performed. His agent, Scott Nichols, told ESPN that Dejean-Jones died from a gunshot wound to his abdomen.

 

Management at Camden Belmont sent an email to residents that said Dejean-Jones had been trying to get into the apartment of an “estranged acquaintance” and “inadvertently broke into the wrong apartment.”

 

ESPN reported that the acquaintance was the mother of Dejean-Jones’ child.

 

Nichols told CNN in a statement that the NBA player was in Dallas to visit his girlfriend for his daughter’s first birthday. He said Dejean-Jones was visiting her new apartment for the first time and, when he came back to the apartment later that night, he went to the unit directly below hers.

 

Dejean-Jones, his agent said, was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

 

It’s unclear whether the unidentified man who shot Dejean-Jones will face charges.

 

Under Texas law, a person is allowed to use deadly force to defend himself in his home. It also says a person using force cannot provoke the attacker or be involved in criminal activity at the time.

 

Police are investigating. They do not believe that Dejean-Jones was armed.

 

The New Orleans Pelicans released a statement Saturday acknowledging Dejean-Jones’ “sudden passing” with “deep sadness.”

 

“We are devastated at the loss of this young man’s life who had such a promising future ahead of him,” it said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Bryce’s family during this difficult time.”

 

The NBA also released a written statement mourning the “tragic loss.”

 

“Bryce inspired countless people with his hard work and perseverance on his journey to the NBA, and he had a bright future in our league,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in the statement.

 

Originally from Los Angeles, DeJean-Jones attended the University of Southern California and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, before transferring to Iowa State.

 

While at Iowa State, he was once arrested for partying too loudly and causing a nuisance, according to ESPN.

 

He joined the Pelicans as a free-agent rookie last year.

 

In his only NBA season, which ended in February because of a broken right wrist, the 6-foot-6 guard started 11 of 14 games and averaged 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds.

 

He had recently signed a three-year, $2 million deal with the team.

 

The Pelicans did not make the playoffs; their season ended April 13.

 

 

 

Only 23. Some sad stuff. As with almost all of these stories, though, you gotta wait until all the details come out.

[Barracuda 629]

Doesn't sound like he was up to any good, kickin down doors and all. Bad things happen when you do stupid stuff.