NFL player LeSean “Shady” McCoy has enlisted the help of a prominent Atlanta defense attorney after police launched an investigation intoa violent assault that left his estranged girlfriend badly beaten and hospitalized.
A graphic photograph circulated throughout social media on Tuesday that showed McCoy’s ex, Delicia Cordon, bloodied from a robbery that took place at the football star’s home in Milton, Georgia, earlier that morning.
The statement alleges that Cordon was injured after the attacker pistol-whipped her while trying to retrieve jewelry — specifically, ones that McCoy had given her as gifts.
McCoy denied having played a part in the attack in a statement posted to his social accounts on Tuesday.
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“For the record, the totally baseless and offensive claims made against me are completely false,”McCoy wrote on Instagram. “Furthermore, I have not had any direct contact with any of the people involved in months.”
In the hours after the attack, McCoy enlisted the services of high-profile attorney Don Samuel, who is no stranger to representing NFL players facing serious allegations.
Samuel — of the Atlanta-area law firmGarland, Samuel and Loeb— waspart of a team who successfully defendedBaltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis in a double-homicide case in 2000. Then, in 2010, Samuel helped to defend Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger against rape allegations. He has also represented rapper T.I.
“We were very recently retained, as of yesterday, so we’re getting up to speed,” Amanda Clark Palmer, a partner at the firm, tells PEOPLE. “Don was retained, and our firm in general, so we’re getting up to speed on the allegations.”
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The firm told PEOPLE they are currently talking to the Milton Police Department about Tuesday morning’s incident as they move forward.
Former Bills player, Richie Incognito, came out in defense of McCoy in a series of tweets following the accusations.
Incognito then said because McCoy was in Florida and not in Georgia at the time of the attack, he couldn’t have been a part of it.
“I know the whole story,” Incognito tweeted at McCoy. “You good to go family. I love you my g.”
The former NFL star, who played for two seasons with the Bills, then went so far as to say Cordon — a designer and popular Instagram model — was living a “fake lifestyle.”
Incognito was banned for two years following his role in the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal in 2013. He did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
