Two members of the Jefferson College women's basketball team were charged April 3 in connection with a Feb. 23 incident in which one of the women is alleged to have flourished a knife at a Viking Baseball player and both women are accused of hitting him.
The incident occurred at the college's Viking Woods campus housing complex in Hillsboro, where all three athletes lived.
Jasmine E. Crawford, 18, of Hillsboro is accused of brandishing the knife and faces three charges: one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon, one misdemeanor count of third-degree assault and one misdemeanor count of first-degree trespass, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Forrest Wegge reported.
The felony charge is punishable by up to four years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000, while the third-degree assault charge is punishable by up to a year in jail ($1,000 fine), and the trepass by six months in jail ($500 fine).
Mar'Lisa D. Braxton, 19, of Alexander, Ark., was charged with one misdemeanor count of third-degree assault.
Both Crawford and Braxton were freshmen this year on the women's basketball team. On Friday (April 27), Jefferson College spokesman Roger Barrentine said both women remained on the team.
According to Hillsboro Police Department reports, police were summoned around 9 p.m. Feb. 23 to the Viking Woods campus housing complex when a member of the baseball team claimed a woman from the basketball team "flourished" a knife at him during a squabble.
Probable-cause statements allege Crawford exhibited a knife and slapped the victim and that Braxton hit him in the back of the neck. Crawford also is alleged to have trespassed into the victim's residence.
Crawford was released from the Jefferson County Jail on $3,500 bond, a Sheriff's Office spokesman said. He said he had no record of Braxton having been held in the jail.
The incident was the second during the 2011-2012 basketball season involving team members at the college's student housing complex.
Redshirt sophomore Terriyine Singleton, from Harvey, La., was charged with a misdemeanor for peace disturbance in a Dec. 2, 2011, incident involving a BB gun. She was suspended from the team and from classes and later reinstated to full student-athlete status.
Viking women's basketball team coach Tonika Bruce and assistant coach Franklin Scott resigned from their positions April 20. Both served a one-game suspension after the Singleton incident, although the college did not disclose the reason for the suspensions.
--Kevin Carbery
