Simone Biles Break Silence On Brother’s Arrest For Triple Homicide

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles has come forward to issue a statement regarding the news about her brother, Tevin Biles-Thomas. Last week, news broke that Tevin was arrested in connection to a shooting that occurred on New Year’s Eve in Cleveland, Ohio. According to The Washington Post, there was a private get-together happening at a rented Airbnb apartment when a group of uninvited guests showed up.

Around 11:30 p.m., the uninvited guests were asked to leave, a request that incited an argument. Someone pulled out a gun and began firing, and in the ruckus, five people were shot. Twenty-three-year-old Devaughn Gibson, 21-year-old Toshon Banks, and 19-year-old DelVaunte Johnson were killed while two others were injured.

Simone has remained silent about the accusations stacked against her brother, but she broke her silence on Monday. “Still having a hard time processing last weeks news,” she wrote as the caption of a tweet. In a text image, she continued, “My 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 ended her note by saying, “I ask everyone to please respect my family’s privacy as we deal with our pain. XO.”

Tevin has been charged with six counts of murder—three for the deaths of each person and three more for causing a death during a felony—, five counts of felonious assault, three counts of voluntary manslaughter, and one count of perjury.