An ex-football player for Florida State and the NFL who fatally shot one man and injured another was found not guilty by a jury after it was determined he acted in self-defense.
A Palm Beach County jury found 27-year-old Travis Rudolph not guilty of one count of first-degree murder and three charges of attempted murder, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Additionally, the 12-person jury decided not to find Rudolph guilty of lesser charges including second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Four men went to Rudolph’s home in April 2021, hours after he had a fight with his girlfriend, according to authorities. Rudolph was then detained.
Sebastien Jean-Jacques was killed and Tyler Robinson was wounded when Rudolph at some point pulled out a semi-automatic gun and started shooting at them as they were driving away.
According to Rudolph’s testimony, the men were armed and were firing back at him. According to investigators, there is no proof that the escaping guys fired back.
In 2015 and 2016, Rudolph was Florida State’s top receiver. He departed the group before the 2017 NFL Draft began.
He later signed with the Miami Dolphins before switching to the New York Giants. He also had a brief stint with the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. After his arrest, the group gave him a release.
When a video of him sharing lunch with an autistic student while on a team visit to a middle school in Tallahassee went viral in 2016, he attracted national attention.
Leah Paske, the boy’s mother, released a video of the incident on social media and claimed that her “super sweet child” frequently eats by himself.
I requested to seat next to him, and he responded, “Sure, why not?” In 2016, Rudolph spoke to reporters. “I just thought our conversation was fantastic.” He came off as being quite open. He introduced himself as Bo and expressed his admiration for Florida State before continuing.
