Biles, whose family is from nearby Columbus, Ohio, issued a statement regarding brother Tevin Biles-Thomas. A serviceman in the U.S. Army in Georgia, Biles-Thomas returned to Ohio for a New Year’s Eve celebration when the house party was reportedly stormed by a group of “uninvited men” and a brawl ensued. Sometime during the melee, Biles-Thomas brandished a firearm and fatally shot three men and wounded two others, rolling out reported previously.
Simone Biles said she is having great difficulty wrapping her brain around the fact that her brother was involved in a bloodbath.
“My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families,” Biles said on Twitter. “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.”
According to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office in Cleveland, Biles-Thomas has been charged with six counts of murder, three counts of voluntary manslaughter, five counts of felony assault and another count of perjury. He is currently jailed in southern Georgia but will be extradited to Cleveland ahead of his arraignment on September 13.
Meanwhile, Biles, widely considered the greatest U.S. gymnast of all time, needs solitude to reconcile the unbelievably violent episode.
“I ask everyone to please respect my family’s privacy as we deal with our pain. XO,” she said. “Still having a hard time processing last weeks news.”
