Report: Suns’ Morris Twins charged with felony aggravated assault

Phoenix Suns twins Marcus and Markieff Morris have been charged with felony aggravated assault for an incident on January 24.

The Suns twin forwards (literally) are being charged with felony aggravated assault for an incident they took part of that occurred on January 24, according to a story by ESPN. Marcus and Markieff Morris are two of five men charged in the assault that took place at the Nina Mason Pulliam Recreation Center in Phoenix, Arizona. One of the other men is Gerald Bowman, a safety out of USC who was preparing to take part in the NFL Draft. The first court appearance is scheduled for May 7.

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The victim in this case was one Erik Hood who was at the gym attending a basketball tournament when he saw the Morris twins enter with the other three men named in the case. The aforementioned Bowman along with Julius Kane and Christopher Melendez. The five men allegedly attacked Hood, beginning with Melendez who hit him in the head. He was then beaten repeatedly by all five on the ground. A woman who had attended the game with Hood witnessed the assault.

Hood said he’d known the Morris twins since high school and had mentored them in college, however, the Morris twins denied both the assault and knowing Hood. According to Phoenix police, Hood was beaten for supposedly sending inappropriate texts to the Morris twins’ mother.

The incident and now charges have to be eliciting groans from the Suns who just signed the brothers to new contracts last summer in the NBA offseason. The new contracts were four year deals and have Marcus getting $20 million and Markieff getting $32 million. The two were no slouches for the Suns either with Marcus averaging 10.4 points per game and 4.8 rebounds in 25 minutes plays and Markieff averaging 15.3 points and 6.2 rebounds in 31 minutes.

The grand jury received the case on April 10 and that resulted in summons for the Morris twins and warrants for Bowman, Melendez and Kane. The indictment paperwork says that the twins intentionally caused harm to Hood, which is why the charges are felony charges.

The twins released a short statement on Tuesday as detailed by Arizona ABC 15 that said they can’t discuss any details of the case per their lawyers’ instructions and that they’re sorry for the “distraction” caused to the Suns and their fans.

Obviously you can’t expect them to say much more than that, but it’s a lot more than a distraction if the charges stick.

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