Yaqub Talib, who shot and killed youth football coach Michael Hickmon at a youth football game, was formally sentenced Monday to 37 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder.
Forty-year-old Yaqub was in attendance at a game last August in Lancaster, Texas, with his brother Aqib, a former NFL cornerback. Witnesses reported that the Talib brothers got into a fight with coach Hickmon over a referee's call.
Yaqub Talib shot Hickmon in front of several children, including the victim's 9-year-old son. Hickmon later died at Methodist Center Hospital in Dallas.
Yaqub left the scene but turned himself in to law enforcement days after the shooting. Aqib reportedly stepped aside from his duties with Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” broadcast team to "spend time with his family" after his brother's arrest.
At the sentencing, Hickmon's wife, Kenyetta, spoke about the difficulties of raising her three children alone.
"You killed innocence. You killed souls, hopes, dreams. Not just my kids. But all the 30, 40 other little kids that was there. Who does that? How did you think that was right?" Kenyetta said Monday. "People asked are you healed? I'll never be healed. I still ask myself every day: 'Why?'"
Hickmon's family has sued Big XII Sports League and Family Services and the Talib brothers for over $1 million. The lawsuit alleges that Talib played a major role in igniting the brawl that led to the shooting.
