The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:21 PM

UT Senior Safety Hospitalized Friday In An Apparent Suicide Attempt According To UT Police

Sometimes, unfortunate things happen to good people – and that appears to be the case in an incident involving a Tennessee football player.

Todd Kelly Jr., a senior safety and one of the team’s most popular players, was hospitalized early Friday morning in an apparent suicide attempt, according to a UT police report.

Kelly got into an argument with his girlfriend after she talked to a male at a bar on Cumberland Avenue and Kelly got into a “minor altercation’’ with the other male, the girlfriend told police, according to the incident report.

Kelly and his girlfriend went back to Kelly’s apartment where the girlfriend said they got into a verbal spat and that Kelly punched cabinets, a refrigerator and a wall, and also busted a glass bottle against a wall, the report said.

At one point, Kelly was standing over his girlfriend, who was “kind of pushed to the floor but not thrown,’’ she told police.

When the girlfriend began to leave, she told police Kelly followed her outside and “stated that he was going to kill himself.’’

The girlfriend said she kept walking to her car and heard a “thud’’ and Kelly “screaming in pain’’ from falling down a 30-foot retaining wall.

One witness said in the report that Kelly had climbed a metal rail which led to the retaining wall and 30-foot drop.

One witness said that while Kelly was standing on the wall, he said his girlfriend was “crazy’’ and that he was going to “hurt himself.’’

The witness said Kelly went off the wall, grabbed a ledge, then let go of the ledge.

Kelly suffered a minor laceration to his head and said that he hurt his knee, the incident report states.

Kelly was then taken to UT Medical Center for treatment and evaluation.

The incident report says an officer responded to an attempted suicide at 3:40 am Friday.

Kelly was not charged with simple domestic assault “due to lack of visible injuries and physical evidence,’’ the incident report said.

The girlfriend said she and Kelly had been drinking “throughout the night.’’

Todd Kelly Sr., the player’s father and a former Tennessee football player, did not respond to calls or a text message.

Kelly Jr. planned to take a medical redshirt after playing just two games during the 2017 season due to a knee injury.

He led the team in tackles with 71 in 2016. He is a product of Knoxville Webb School.

Kelly changed his number from 6 to 24 before his junior season at UT to honor a friend, Zaevion Dobson, a Fulton High School player who was gunned down shielding two girls from gunfire.