Reposted by Danny B
The Phoenix Suns' Morris twins live by the mantra "Family over everything."
Phoenix police say Marcus and Markieff Morris put those words into action when they and three others committed felony aggravated assault against a man the 25-year-old twins learned had sent "inappropriate" text messages to their mother.
Police have made no arrests and no charges have been filed. A spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office confirmed Tuesday afternoon that prosecutors are continuing to review the case submitted by police.
For their part, the Morris twins have denied assaulting the reported victim, whom they also claim not to know, and their mother denies having been in contact with the man on the day of the incident, though authorities found evidence to the contrary, the police report shows.
The report shows the alleged victim, Erik Hood, told police he had been a mentor to the twins and supported them financially for a time when they were high school students in Philadelphia. Hood, a former professional basketball player who now works as a talent scout, also showed police photographs of himself with the Morris twins, the report said.
They later had a falling out.
Hood reportedly told authorities that the text in question said he'd always be there for the Morris twins' mother, Thomasine Morris, and that he believed a friend who saw it inferred the statement to mean their relationship had become sexual.
The alleged assault occurred in January at the Nina Mason Pulliam Recreation & Sports Complex near 15th Avenue and Colter Street, where Hood and a woman had been watching a basketball game, records show.
Hood told investigators he and the woman were leaving the facility when they were accosted by Julius Kane, 25, the man Hood believes told the Morris twins about the text messages, the report said.
During the confrontation, someone punched Hood in the back of the head, and Hood tried to flee.
Police said Kane and another person caught up with Hood outside the door near some picnic tables, where someone held Hood down while others kicked and punched him, records show. Hood says he was attacked by five people in all.
Hood reportedly escaped a second time and was near the front of the complex when the group caught up to him and assaulted him again to the point of unconsciousness, according to the police report.
Witnesses told police they saw the five subjects flee in a Rolls-Royce Phantom, but none of them were able to identify any of the subjects. Investigators reportedly interviewed about two dozen additional witnesses who said they did not see anything or could not identify those involved.
Hood, who later identified Kane and the Morris twins as three of his five attackers, suffered a broken nose, a large knot on the back of his head and abrasions, records show. The woman who accompanied Hood to the game also verified Kane and the twins as being part of the altercation.
Markieff Morris denied being part of the group of attackers but admitted being at the game. He reportedly told police he and his brother were there because they sponsor one of the teams.
The Phoenix Suns did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
Matthew Casey writes for The Arizona Republic, a Gannett affiliate.
