University of Houston football player Carmello Brooks appeared in court Monday on two criminal charges, including an allegation that he assaulted a pregnant person. The woman involved in that case, Nariah Harley, told the judge she wants the charge dismissed and said police misinterpreted the encounter.
Harley said the dispute started with an argument at Brooks’ apartment the previous week. She said Brooks repeatedly asked her to leave and then picked her up and gently moved her outside after she refused. Court records indicate University of Houston police responded to the apartment, and Harley said Brooks was the person who called 911.
Brooks’ attorney, Brent Wasserstein, told the court that police body-camera footage and the emergency call would be reviewed by prosecutors. He said he expects the recordings to support Brooks’ account, though the source did not provide a decision from prosecutors.
Brooks also faces a criminal-mischief charge linked to an August incident in northwest Harris County. He is accused of damaging a door handle after a dispute involving another woman and her sister. Family members said Brooks and those women grew up together in Killeen and attended high school together.
Harley, who is from Killeen and attends Texas Southern University, said Brooks is the father of her baby and that she does not view herself as a victim. She asked for the charges to be dropped so both of them could continue with their lives.
