Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth was charged Wednesday with DUI manslaughter after a Miami car crash that killed a pedestrian, according to people familiar with the case.
A Miami judge signed an arrest warrant that formally charged the NFL pro with driving drunk when the 28-year-old Stallworth hit and killed 59-year-old Mario Reyes in a March 14 accident.
Stallworth is expected to turn himself in Thursday morning and may bond out soon afterward for $200,000.
DUI manslaughter carries a possible 15-year prison sentence.
Stallworth and his employer, the Cleveland Browns, have been on pins and needles awaiting word on if the receiver would be charged with a crime.
Stallworth has been relatively quiet during the investigation but he did release a statement a few days after the accident saying he was "grief-stricken" over what had happened.
Several media outlets have reported toxicology reports revealed Stallworth was driving drunk and well over the .08 state legal limit for blood-alcohol levels. The receiver's blood-alcohol level was .126 when he plowed his Bentley into Reyes.
A police report said Stallworth had been drinking at a Liv, a night club at the Fontainebleau, before the crash.
"I hit a man lying in the road," Stallworth told officers arriving to investigate the crash, according to the affidavit. One officer smelled alcohol on Stallworth's breath and said that his eyes appear "bloodshot and watery."
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While there were no eyewitnesses to the accident, several motorists arrived to catch the aftermath of the fatal man-versus-car collision.
Police released three emergency calls from frantic passerbys who came to the aid of Reyes.
"He's dead. He's dead," said one woman during a call with police
Stallworth signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns before last season but was injured much of the year. He previously played for New England, Philadelphia and New Orleans.