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Simone Biles 'Still Having A Hard Time Processing' Her Brother’s Arrest In Triple Murder Case
“My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families,” she wrote in a social media statement following the arrest of Tevin Biles-Thomas
Simone Biles took to social media over the holiday weekend to break her silence on her brother’s recent arrest.
The Olympic gymnast’s older brother, 24-year-old Tevin Biles-Thomas, was taken into custody last week and charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, felonious assault, and perjury in connection to a New Year’s Eve shooting in Cleveland, Ohio that left three men dead.
Biles, 22, had not commented directly on the news until Monday, when she revealed in a tweet that she was “still having a hard time processing” it all.
“My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families,” her statement reads. “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.”
“I ask everyone to please respect my family’s privacy as we deal with our pain. XO,” she continued.
Police in Cleveland, Ohio say that the shooting occurred at a New Year’s Eve party at an Airbnb rental above a local pizzeria, Cleveland.com reports. A group of men who were not invited to the gathering arrived and would not leave when asked, which prompted an altercation that resulted in gunfire, according to police. Devaughn Gibson, 23, DelVaunte Johnson, 19, and Toshon Banks, 21, were killed, while two others were also struck by gunfire but survived their injuries.
Biles-Thomas, an active member of the U.S. Army, is in custody at the Liberty County Jail in Hinesville, Georgia, but is expected to be extradited to Cleveland where he will appear in court on Sept. 13 for his arraignment, according to NBC News.
Biles and her brother did not grow up together; the pair, along with two more sisters, Adria and Ashley, were placed in foster care as children while their mother, Shannon Biles, battled addiction, The Washington Post reports. Simone and Adria went to live with their grandfather in Texas, while Tevin and Ashley grew up with a great-aunt in Cleveland, according to the outlet.
