Olympic champion Simone Biles' brother arrested over triple murder at party
The brother of Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles has been charged with murder after a New Year’s Eve party shooting which left three people dead.
Tevin Biles-Thomas, who is serving in the US Army, was arrested in Georgia after he was indicted by the Cuyahoga County authorities in Ohio over the triple shooting on 31 December.
Devaughn Gibson, 23, DelVaunte Johnson, 19, and Toshon Banks, 21, were all shot dead after a row outside an Airbnb rental in Cleveland.
Police said a group of men arrived uninvited at the apartment and when they were turned away from the party they began shooting into the crowd.
Mr Biles-Thomas has been charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, felonious assault and perjury, and is currently being held in a local jail in Georgia while he waits to be sent back to Cleveland.
“The relentless persistence of Cleveland police homicide detectives helped secure an indictment in this case,” the Cuyahoga County prosecutor Michael O’Malley said.
“It is through their hard work that we can begin to seek justice for these victims.”
No-one else has yet been charged with the Airbnb murders, eight months into the police investigation.
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Two other people were seriously injured in the shooting: a 21-year-old man was shot in the back of the head and a 23-year-old woman was hit in the arm.
Ms Biles is the highest profile member of the successful US gymnastic squad at the 2016 Olympic Games.
In total, she has won four Olympic gold medals and a further 14 at World Championships.
In recent years she also revealed she was one of the victims of the former US team doctor Larry Nassar, who was sentenced in 2018 to 125 years in prison for sexually abusing hundreds of women.
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She and Mr Biles-Thomas were removed from the care of their birth mother and spent their early childhoods in and out of foster care in Ohio.
Aged three, she and her siblings were adopted by her grandparents and moved to Texas. Mr Biles-Thomas reportedly later went to school in Cleveland.
Representatives of Ms Biles have not yet responded to requests for comment from US media outlets.
“The investigators within the Cleveland Police Homicide Unit remained committed to securing an arrest in this tragic case,” said the Cleveland Division of Police Chief Calvin Williams.
“We appreciate our partnership with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and are confident that their efforts will bring justice for the families affected by this terrible incident.”
Mr Biles-Thomas’s first hearing is due on 13 September in Cleveland.
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