Former NFL player De'von Hall had a lot going for him at one point, but that's all gone now as he sits in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles.
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Hall is currently incarcerated in the California jail, under a $1-million bail, after being charged with killing his mother, Alecia Benson. She was beaten, bloodied and ultimately killed in her home.
Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times detailing Benson's death and the mental state of her son, which, by all accounts, had rapidly deteriorated since his playing days.
The Times detailed the 911 call from Brandeis Eubanks, one of the home's residents:
"He hit her. He stomped her out," he told the dispatcher. "They got in a tussling match and next thing you know she was on the ground and he was stomping her out."
"Her son is still here and I don't want him to attack me," Eubanks said. "If you guys get here, you can apprehend him."
Benson, according to the report, was so badly beaten her face was unrecognizable. She died four days later.
Hall, a former Utah State standout, played one year in the NFL, a stint with the Indianapolis Colts in 2009. He also spent some time with the Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and tried out for two CFL teams, but only his stint with the Colts worked out. Fenno's story focused on Hall's rapidly declining mental state, though, from staring at walls alone in empty rooms while training with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to rambling Facebook posts.
One quote from Hall's twin brother, Caleb, illustrated what his family described as a deteriorating mental state.
"If he caught the dog, you didn't know if he was going to pet it or kill it," Caleb Taylor said. "I wouldn't want to be in a room one-on-one with him. He showed a lot of signs of aggression."
What happened to Hall was a mystery. Notably, Fenno reported that his family members believe a head injury suffered in the NFL could have been the start of his mental issues. A Colts' spokesman didn't respond to a request for a comment to the story, but Hall's uncle, Tony Benson, had this to say:
"The NFL, in my opinion, should've done a better job in making sure they took care of this kid," Tony Benson said.
Another theory among former teammates, per Fenno's reporting, is that Hall smoked weed that was laced with cocaine, heroin or some other hard drug, and that caused an addiction that sent him down a dark path.
