Ray Rice may have been turned into a villain by the media, but his wife, Janay Rice, is coming to the former Baltimore Ravens running back’s defense. Janay is the woman seen in the controversial video that shows Rice knocking her out with a punch.
Janay posted a message on her private Instagram page, standing up for the “man I love.” She wrote that, “I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I'm mourning the death of my closest friend” and said that extra attention for the incident was “unwanted,” notes ABC News.
“To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret everyday is a horrible thing,” Janay continued. “To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his a.. off for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. THIS IS OUR LIFE!”
Janay was Rice’s fiancee at the time of the incident, which took place on Feb. 15 at the Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. Before Monday morning, the only video of the incident that was made public showed Rice dragging Janay unconscious out of the elevator. But then TMZ Sports posted the full video, showing Rice shoving Janay and then punching her in the face, knocking her to the floor.
Just hours later, the Ravens terminated his contract and the NFL suspended him indefinitely. Previously, Rice had only been suspended two games for the incident.
TMZ Sports has dropped another potential bombshell, with its sources claiming that the NFL never contacted the Revel Casino for the full video during its investigation of the incident. The site claims that the NFL’s two-game suspension was the result of just interviews with Rice and Janay, who told them that they both fought in that elevator. The NFL only asked prosecutors for the video, but they could not comply because the case was ongoing at the time. However, had the NFL gone to the casino instead, it would have received the full video.
Sadly, in the eyes of the law, this case may be over. After all, Rice struck a deal with New Jersey prosecutors to only attend counseling for the incident. Unless they could come up with another charge, prosecutors couldn’t go after him again because of double jeopardy.
image courtesy of Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com