Prep football star to stand trial for assault, faces 10 years

Prep football star to stand trial for assault, faces 10 years

Felony, misdemeanor assault charges ‘excessive,’ some say

Cass Tech quarterback and Michigan State recruit  Campbell was arraigned Wednesday morning after being charged with assaulting a school security guard who asked the student to remove a hood he was wearing.  (AP Photo/Detroit News, David Coates) 

Jayru Campbell’s Attorney Jeffrey Edison talks to the press after his client, Jayru Cambell, was arraigned in district court in Detroit on Feb. 12.

Special to the NNPA from The Michigan Citizen

      DETROIT,MI — Excessive is how some describe the charges against Cass Technical High School student-athlete Jayru Campbell.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced at a press conference Feb. 11 the 17-year-old football player will be charged as an adult. Camp-bell, a junior quarterback, who led his team to back-to-back state championships as a fresh-man and sophomore in 2011 and 2012, faces a felony charge of assault to do great bodily harm, which carries a maximum 10-year sentence and a misdemeanor of aggravated assault, a one-year prison sentence, for allegedly body slamming a security guard on school premises.

“Any defendant would have been charged accordingly,” Worthy said. “Being a talented football player does not change these facts.”

A mobile video, titled “Jayru Campbell bodyslam of Cass Tech security guard,” went viral Jan. 22, showing a student at Cass Tech body-slamming a security guard.

According to Worthy and earlier news reports of the incident, when asked by the 23-year-old guard to remove his hood inside the building, Campbell refused.

In a statement following her announcement, Worthy said Campbell allegedly became “profane, picked the officer up and slammed him on the floor.”