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Report: Former Miami player arrested in murder of Hurricane star Bryan Pata

SimonGibbs_UserImageby:Simon Gibbs•08/19/21•

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15 years after the crime was committed, an arrest has been made in the case of Bryan Pata’s murder: former Miami teammate, Rashaun Jones, was arrested on Thursday in Ocala, Florida, according to a report from the Miami Herald.

Pata was a star defensive lineman for the Miami Hurricanes in 2006 when the senior was shot in the back of the head and killed while walking from his car to the stairs of his apartment building on Nov. 7.

There were no eyewitnesses to the shooting, and the crime remained unsolved prior to Thursday. The Miami-Dade police department’s homicide bureau keeping the case open for the past decade and a half.

“We believe that this person was waiting for Bryan Pata. We don’t know exactly where this person was positioned, but there are trees and shrubbery and concrete walls in close proximity,” Miami-Dade Police Detective Miguel Dominguez said to NBC 6 in 2017.

ESPN published a story on Pata’s then-unsolved murder case in November of 2020 and named Jones as a potential suspect, given the fact he had been in two fights with Pata. As the word about Pata’s killing spread across the apartment complex and the University of Miami, the Hurricane coaching staff held a private meeting with the team — one player was absent from the meeting, according to ESPN: Jones. He had recently been suspended from the team due to a third positive marijuana test.

“Jones would later tell police that he was home alone the night Pata was murdered, and that when he heard of Pata’s death, he headed to the Hecht Center, presumably for the meeting,” the story reads. “But other witnesses told police, and more than a dozen ex-players told ESPN for this story, that they had no recollection of Jones being there.”

Jones was a top-rated defensive back recruit when he entered Miami’s program but was utilized mostly on special teams.

Pata was dating Jada Brody at the time of his death, and the two had an on-and-off relationship for quite some time, according to the ESPN story. Jones had dated Brody before Pata, leading to a complicated relationship.

“Jones dated Brody first, and, witnesses said, he reminded Pata of it constantly,” the ESPN story says.

The story also cites partially redacted police documents that stated Jones had been a suspect. The Miami-Dade police said that at some point on the night of Pata’s death, Jones went to his girlfriend Sherry Abramson’s house, and Abramson told Marquis Mosely, Miami’s wide receivers coach, that Jones was “out of it.” Additionally, the police established that Jones had changed his phone number that day.

Jones’ arrest was carried out on Thursday as part of a joint operation between the Miami-Dade Police and U.S. Marshals. The police department said that the 35-year-old was arrested with first-degree murder and is awaiting extradition back to Miami-Dade County for prosecution.

Pata was a 6-foot-4, 272-pound pass rusher who played in 32 games, starting 15, across his first three seasons with Miami. Slated to take over as a full-time starter his senior year, he had amassed 73 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, 26 quarterback pressures and two fumble recoveries. He was a projected second- or third-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.