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Former Baylor basketball player charged with teammate’s murder


CHESTERTOWN, Md. (BP)–Former Baylor University basketball player Carlton Dotson was arrested July 21 and charged with murder and intended death in the case of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy.

Dotson called police from a grocery store in Chestertown, Md., about 55 miles from his hometown, July 20 and said he needed help, the Chestertown police chief said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Police took Dotson to a local hospital for an evaluation, and there he contacted the FBI regarding his involvement in the case.

The FBI interviewed Dotson, and as a result of the interview issued an arrest warrant, the Star-Telegram recounted. Sources say Dotson, 21, confessed to an FBI agent and told investigators where to find his former roommate’s body. USA Today, however, reported that Dotson’s lawyer had quoted Dotson as saying, “I didn’t confess.”

Dennehy, 21, a 6-foot-10-inch power forward from Santa Clara, Calif., who had been dismissed from the University of New Mexico team, was last seen June 12 in Waco and was reported missing June 19.

“I’m still crying,” Dennehy’s stepfather, Brian Brabazon, told the Star-Telegram. “I want to say that we want some prayers for Carlton. If he’s any type of human being, he must be hurting also.”

Dennehy and Dotson were considered best friends and had purchased guns to ward off threats from another teammate, the Star-Telegram reported. A June 23 search warrant affidavit said Dotson confessed to a cousin that he had shot Dennehy while the two were firing guns. Dotson had been named a “person of interest” in the case.

A native of Hurlock, Md., Dotson had led his high school basketball team to the state championship in 1999. After attending junior college in Paris, Texas, he transferred to Baylor, where he has one year of eligibility remaining, the Star-Telegram said. His scholarship was not renewed in the spring, and he is not on the team roster for the upcoming season.

USA Today reported July 22: “There are reports that Dennehy received a scholarship just weeks after a scholarship was stripped from Dotson. Baylor officials confirm that timetable but say Dennehy’s scholarship was not necessarily the one taken from Dotson.”

Baylor Athletic Director Tom Stanton released a statement July 21 saying, “We are struggling to find the right words and actions that would ease the pain of everyone connected to Patrick. We hope and believe that our thoughts and prayers are helpful. Those thoughts and prayers are constant in these moments. There are no words to describe our grief or our feelings right now.”

Baylor University is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and is the largest Baptist university in the world.
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