Former TCU wide receiver Dozie Ezukanma told police he cannot remember the moment he was attacked in the Walsh Athletic Complex on Aug. 13, even though the encounter left him with a brain bleed, concussion and a three-day hospital stay.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, former TCU safety Jacob Fields was charged with aggravated assault that caused bodily harm, a second degree felony. If convicted, he could face two to 20 years in prison.
Ezukanma said he was sitting in the Walsh Athletic Complex when Fields hit him in the forehead with a closed fist. The affidavit says Fields then kicked Ezukanma in the head after he was on the floor.
When police spoke with Ezukanma, he said the last thing he remembered was sitting in the locker room on his phone. After that, his next memory was being in the training room and asking what happened.
Sophomore wide receiver Terry Shelton told Ezukanma, “J. Fields snuck you bro,” according to the affidavit.
Shelton also told police he was in the locker room when the altercation happened and saw Fields strike Ezukanma, whose head hit the floor. Shelton said he believed Ezukanma was already knocked out before he landed.
He then said Fields pulled his leg back and kicked Ezukanma.
Shelton said he shoved Fields and told him, “you can’t be doing that; we are teammates.” Sophomore wide receiver Jacobe Hayes then came over and lifted Ezukanma’s leg to check on him, the affidavit says.
Ezukanma complained of a terrible headache, pain in his head, a skin abrasion on his face from hitting the floor and shoulder pain. He also told police he thought the situation started because of practice, saying he had been performing better than Fields. He added that the two had been “going hard” at each other since the start of camp.
TCU Assistant Athletic Trainer Curtis Tally Jr. said he was in the training room when he heard Shelton yelling for him, saying, we need you over here, according to the affidavit. Tally said Shelton walked in with Ezukanma, whose face was covered and who was crying from the pain.
As Tally evaluated him, Shelton reportedly said, “Dozie wasn’t paying attention; he just hit him,” according to the affidavit. Tally said Ezukanma kept saying his head hurt while he asked questions. Shelton told him he believed the player had a concussion, and when Tally asked where Ezukanma was hit, Shelton said Fields hit him in the back of the head and then kicked him.
Ezukanma went with Tally to see a doctor, who said he would need a CT scan to rule out a brain bleed. The doctor wanted him sent to Midtown Medical Imaging until Ezukanma said his ears were ringing. At that point, the doctor said to take him to the ER immediately.
Tally drove Ezukanma to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital around 3:40 p.m. The doctor later read the results and said Ezukanma had suffered a brain bleed.
He was then transferred to the ICU, where a second CT scan around 7:30 p.m. showed the hematoma had grown. Ezukanma was treated with blood pressure and pain control medication.
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