Jeremiah Parker, the young defensive end facing aggravated manslaughter charges in the death of a four-year old boy, was waived yesterday by the Giants, 18 days after Elijah Kelly died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Parker, 23, and his girlfriend, Tauleah Kelly, 19, lived together in a Haledon, N.J., luxury condominium, along with Kelly’s son, Elijah. On May 14, Elijah died and soon after, Parker and Kelly were charged with aggravated manslaughter and child abuse in Passaic County. Both Parker and Kelly, through their lawyers, have accused each other of abusing Elijah.
The Giants following the incident chose to watch and wait, monitoring the developments regarding Parker, a seventh-round pick out of California a year ago who played sparingly in just four games as a rookie, almost exclusively on special teams.
“Jeremiah obviously has some serious issues that he needs to devote his time and energy to,” GM Ernie Accorsi said in a statement. “We feel it’s in his best interests and ours for him to be able to concentrate solely on those issues.”
Contacted after the release of the statement, Accorsi refused to elaborate on the decision to waive Parker.
“I talked to Jeremiah and his focus is on clearing his name and seeing justice served,” said Michael Hoffman, Parker’s agent. “He wishes his former teammates and the entire organization nothing but success. One thing Jeremiah didn’t want is to be a distraction to the team, and this was going to be a distraction, no way around it. Jeremiah’s football career is on hold until this is resolved, and once that’s done he will resume his career.”
On May 12, Parker said he found Elijah lying on a bedroom floor and rushed him to a hospital, where authorities said the boy was suffering from blunt force trauma to the head. The boy’s body was also marked with bite and lash marks. Elijah Kelly died two days later. Passaic County authorities accused both Parker and Tauleah Kelly of physically abusing the boy. Parker and Kelly have known each other for 1½ years.
Kelly remains in the Passaic County Jail, while Parker is out on bail but restricted from leaving New Jersey.
“This is a tragic situation and we want there to be something resolved for this poor child,” Hoffman said. “In talking to Jeremiah’s defense team, I’m positive he will see his name cleared and justice served.”
