Former NFL linebacker Darron Lee has been charged with murdering his girlfriend.

Police officers were dispatched to a residence near Chattanooga in Tennessee on Thursday.

Life-saving measures were attempted on a woman but she was already deceased.

Lee, 31, was identified as the suspect and taken into custody, and on Friday was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

He is due to appear in court on 11 February.

“Preliminary findings indicate the victim’s death was the result of a homicide,” read a statement from the Hamilton County sheriff’s office.

The name of the victim is being withheld until her next of kin has been informed.

Lee, a first-round draft pick for the New York Jets in 2016, last played in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills in 2020.

His four-year deal with the Jets was cut short by a year in 2019, when he left the franchise because of disciplinary problems and poor form.

Lee was part of the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster that won the Super Bowl in 2020, although he did not feature in the match.

He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in June 2021 but did not play before his release two months later.

Lee was arrested in 2023 for assault and domestic violence. The arrest report said he pushed a woman “against the wall, throwing her to the floor and striking her face and head eight to nine times with his closed fists”. (BBC, excluding headline)

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