NFL free agent wide receiver Tyreek Hill altered his account of a physical altercation with his wife, Lakeeta Vaccaro, during his second day of testimony in a divorce battery trial in Miami-Dade County. While Hill admitted to verbally abusing Vaccaro, he insisted he did not harm her physically, a stance that contrasts with his previous admission of pushing her into a wall.
On Thursday, Hill testified that he pushed Vaccaro against the wall of their Sunny Isle condominium, an action he said created a hole in the drywall. "I pushed her against the wall. And I tried to force her to get off me," Hill stated. "I created a hole in the wall, trying to force her to get off me that night." On Friday, Hill revised this account, claiming the damage was caused by a door. "The door, the main door," Hill told his attorney. "As I was trying to evade, I put a hole in the wall with the door." Hill's legal team ensured he explicitly denied ever hurting Vaccaro's breasts, an allegation she raised earlier in the trial.
Vaccaro's attorneys used cross-examination to challenge Hill's credibility by highlighting contradictions between his trial testimony and previous depositions. They pointed out that Hill had suggested Vaccaro may have been involved in a house fire at the couple's Southwest Ranches home in Broward County, despite the cause being determined to be a child playing with a lighter. The plaintiff's lawyers also questioned Hill's claim that Vaccaro was stealing money from the family account and his assertion that she contributed to his diminished performance after the marriage. Hill maintained that while Vaccaro was not calling plays on the field, she was "calling the plays" at home. "If you got a real good support system at home, that's what's important," Hill said, though he later acknowledged that blaming her for his performance was merely his opinion.
Hill admitted to using insulting language toward Vaccaro and some of his friends. "The language was terrible," Hill testified. "I wish I could have been better in every single moment, but I'm not perfect." He stated he was ashamed and intended to never speak to his co-parent in that manner again. Vaccaro's attorneys also impeached Hill's testimony regarding his grandmother, whom he refers to as his mom, becoming homeless; in reality, Hill had moved her into a hotel. Using video from a nanny camera, the plaintiff's lawyers attempted to prove Hill emotionally hurt Vaccaro. Hill acknowledged hurting her in that specific moment but denied intending to break her mentally. The trial is ongoing and reconvenes on Monday.