The brother of retired NFL player Aqib Talib was sentenced to 37 years in prison on Monday after taking a plea deal in the shooting death of youth football coach in 2022.
Yaqub Talib was arrested on charges he shot and killed 43-year-old Michael Hickmon during a youth football game in Lancaster in August 2022, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The 37-year sentence was part of his plea bargain, prosecutors said.
Formal sentencing and victim impact statements were completed Monday.
“You killed innocence,” Hickmon’s wife, Kenyetta, said during her statement, a Dallas TV station reported. “You killed souls, hopes, dreams, of not just my kids but of the 30 or 40 other kids who were there. Who does that? How did you think that was right?”
She continued: “I’ll never be healed. I still ask myself every day, ‘Why?’ My kids say, ‘Why, mama? Why?’ I have no answers. Why would someone take a life from kids?”
The Talib brothers were involved with the Big 12 Youth Football League in Lancaster. Their sons were playing for one of the teams.
Yaqub Talib surrendered at the Dallas County jail two days after the shooting, which took place shortly after 9 p.m. on August 13, 2022, at Lancaster Community Park. Opposing coaches got into a physical altercation when Talib allegedly pulled out a gun and fired.
Aqib Talib was a first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008. He was an All-American cornerback at the University of Kansas. He also played with the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, and Los Angeles Rams. He was a member of the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50 in 2016.
The former All-Pro cornerback worked for Fox Sports as an NFL commentator and was scheduled to work for Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football broadcast before stepping aside.
Hickmon’s family sued the Talibs and the Big 12 Youth Sports League for wrongful death. They are seeking $1 million, as reported in The Dallas Express.
When the altercation occurred, the Talib brothers were coaching the North Dallas United Bobcats in a game against Hickmon’s team, the DEA Dragons.
The lawsuit stated that the Bobcats coaches “became physically and verbally abusive” after the Dragons scored a touchdown, according to WFAA.
As of August 5, Dallas has seen a 6.25% year-over-year increase in murders. The Dallas Police Department has been facing a severe staffing shortage, with only around 3,100 officers on duty — far fewer than the 4,000 believed to be needed to adequately police the city, per a City analysis.
Nearby cities like Fort Worth have deployed dedicated crime units in specific neighborhoods. As a result, Fort Worth’s downtown area has reportedly been experiencing lower crime rates compared to Downtown Dallas.
