Idaho State assistant DaVonte' Neal arrested, charged with first-degree murder

An Idaho State assistant football coach has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

DaVonte’ Neal, who played college football at Notre Dame and Arizona, was arrested May 25 and has been charged with one count of first-degree murder, one count of drive by shooting and one count of discharging a firearm at a structure for a murder that happened in 2017, according to the Idaho State Journal. The university also plans to terminate his contract, the ISJ reported.

Idaho State has placed Neal on administrative leave and released a statement about the situation on Thursday.

“All Idaho State employees are required to undergo a criminal background check before employment,” the statement read, via the Idaho State Journal. “Neal’s background check was clear and he was approved for work when hired in January. The warrant for his arrest was issued in Arizona by the Maricopa County Court last month.”

Neal joined Idaho State as defensive backs coach in January — his first college coaching job.

More on DaVonte’ Neal

Neal started his college career with Notre Dame in 2012, playing 13 games at wide receiver, but didn’t register a stat. That’s when he transferred to Arizona, where he played one year at wide receiver before making the move to cornerback.

In two years on defense, Neal had 84 tackles and two interceptions for Arizona. He coached at the high school level before joining the Bengals’ coaching staff in January.

Out of high school, Neal was a four-star wide receiver recruit and the No. 50 player in the country from the class of 2012, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was also the No. 2 recruit in the state of Arizona that year out of Central High School in Paradise Valley.