Brother of Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles Pleads Not Guilty in Cleveland Triple Slaying

Wire Service
By Wire Service
September 13, 2019US News
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Brother of Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles Pleads Not Guilty in Cleveland Triple Slaying
Olympic gymnast Simone Biles (R) and her brother Tevin Biles-Thomas. (Courtesy of Simone Biles)

The brother of Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles pleaded not guilty on Friday, Sept. 13, to murder and other charges in connection with a shooting that killed three people in Ohio on New Year’s Eve.

Tevin Biles-Thomas’s lawyer made the plea on his behalf in a Cleveland courtroom during the defendant’s first court appearance Friday morning.

Biles-Thomas, wearing orange jail-issued clothing, made his brief appearance by video feed, sitting silently at a table at the jail where he is being held.

Tevin Biles-Thomas.
Tevin Biles-Thomas.(Liberty County, Ga., Sheriff’s Office)

His next court appearance, a pretrial hearing, was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Biles-Thomas was arrested in Georgia last month on charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter, felonious assault and perjury in connection with a December 31 fatal shooting in Cleveland.

The Shooting

On the night of the shooting, a group of uninvited guests walked into a home and a fight began, Ohio authorities said. The fight led to the shooting and multiple people were hit.

Two people—Delvaunte Johnson, 19, and Toshaun Banks, 21—died at the scene. A third person, Devaughn Gibson, 23, later died at a hospital.

Biles-Thomas was identified by Cleveland police as the shooter.

He was arrested in Liberty County, Georgia, on August 29 and was extradited to Ohio.

Biles-Thomas is the brother of Simone Biles, a five-time Olympic medalist and a 14-time world champion.

Simone Billes smile
United States gymnast Simone Biles displays her gold medal for floor during the artistic gymnastics women’s apparatus final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Aug. 16, 2016. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

Last week, Simone Biles said on Twitter that her “heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families.”

“There is nothing that I can say that will heal anyone’s pain, but I do want to express my sincere condolences to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy,” she posted. “I ask everyone to please respect my family’s privacy as we deal with our pain.”

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