Why There Hasn't Been Follow-Up Reporting On Latest Domestic Violence Claims Against Tyreek Hill | Defector

"News broke earlier this week that Lakeeta Vaccaro, the estranged wife of Tyreek Hill, said in court records that the Miami Dolphins receiver physically abused her during their marriage. The outlet to break the story, TMZ, reported that it had obtained a new document in the former couple's ongoing divorce case, in which Vaccaro said there were "eight instances of domestic violence" during their marriage of about a year and a half."

"including Hill shoving her to the floor, spitting on her, and, per TMZ, others times "where she claims he got physical with her while she was pregnant." This, typically, would be followed by other news outlets getting copies of the court records and confirming these details with stories of their own. But if you're wondering why the reporting on this seems to have petered out after TMZ's, there's one reason: Nobody else can get a copy of the document."

"On Thursday, a reporter for Defector Media requested from the Miami-Dade County family court division a copy of the document reported on by TMZ, specifically the amended petition. The clerk declined to release it to the reporter, saying the document is "locked" and considered confidential. When the reporter asked to speak with another staffer about it, the clerk simply repeated that the record was locked, and she added that "a lot of folks" have been attempting to obtain a copy of it."

Lakeeta Vaccaro alleged in court records that Tyreek Hill physically abused her during their roughly year-and-a-half marriage, citing eight instances including shoving and spitting and alleged incidents during pregnancy. TMZ reported it had obtained an amended petition containing those allegations, but other outlets cannot access the document. A Miami-Dade family court clerk said the record is "locked" and confidential, and many people have sought it. One of Hill's lawyers said Exhibit A of a Vaccaro motion contains confidential information and cited a Florida statute that protects certain family-court records.

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