Tyreek Hill received a mixed verdict from a Miami-Dade County civil jury Tuesday as the Kansas City Chiefs weigh a reunion with a receiver still under NFL review.
Kansas City needs help at wide receiver, and the verdict arrives with the league’s investigation of Hill unresolved, so the question is now whether any team takes a chance on signing him this season.
The jury found Hill responsible for two counts of battery against his ex-wife, Lakeeta “Keeta” Vaccaro, and awarded her $500,000 in compensatory damages, according to a report by Pro Football Talk founder Mike Florio.
But jurors cleared Hill on the remaining counts and awarded no punitive damages.
“The jury’s decision not to award punitive damages is curious. Battery is an intentional tort,” Florio — himself a former practicing lawyer — wrote. “In Florida, however, the law requires ‘clear and convincing evidence’ of intentional misconduct. It’s possible, in theory, that the jury found evidence of battery under the lower ‘preponderance of the evidence’ standard but not ‘clear and convincing’ proof, which is a higher bar.”
Hill and Vaccaro married in November 2023 and had a daughter a year later. She filed for divorce in April 2025, one day after police responded to a domestic disturbance at the couple’s Sunny Isles Beach condo, according to ESPN reporting. Hill has not faced criminal charges.
“Probably the worst of all these abuse times,” Vaccaro testified about a July 2024 episode in Bristol, Connecticut, as quoted by The Athletic‘s Jesse Newell. She said Hill tried to punch her in the stomach while she was pregnant, that she blocked the blow with her hands and that he told her he did not want the baby.
Hill denied hitting her, but acknowledged using harsh language. “I’m not proud of that,” he said of the language he used toward Vaccaro in videos shown to jurors, as quoted by Court TV.
“Miss Vaccaro did not tell me she had been battered and no one told me he attacked her,” Sunny Isles police officer Sebastian Cuellar testified Monday, as quoted by NewsRadio WIOD‘s Karen Curtis.
Kansas City Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill Pursuit After Verdict
“That’s out of my hands, but I know I’d love to have ‘The Cheetah’ back in this building,” tight end Travis Kelce said, as quoted by The Athletic‘s Mike Silver last week.
“I hope we do. It’d be dangerous,” defensive tackle Chris Jones added at the time, about a week before the civil verdict came in.
Silver reported that Kansas City is “very interested” in signing the free agent and has already contacted his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Hill is recovering from a serious knee injury and is targeting a November return. He spent six seasons with the Chiefs after they drafted him in the fifth round in 2016, then went to Miami in a 2022 trade, detailed by Florio.
The interest follows a run of injuries at the position. Tyquan Thornton dislocated an ankle in the Week 4 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, had surgery and went on injured reserve Tuesday with an expected absence of three to four months. Rashee Rice strained a hamstring in the same game.
Jalen Royals and Cyrus Allen are expected to take more snaps alongside Rice and Xavier Worthy, according to RotoWire. Hill would add a speed receiver who already knows quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense.
Florio wrote that the two battery findings and the $500,000 award could cause interested teams to hold back. No Chiefs reaction to the verdict had been reported by Tuesday evening.
Hill’s NFL Suspension Risk Complicates Chiefs’ Interest
Hill could still be suspended. The NFL opened a Personal Conduct Policy review of Vaccaro’s allegations in September 2025 and confirmed in February that the probe remained active, as reported by Florio.
The verdict does not trigger discipline on its own. Florio wrote that the league must run its own investigation and reach a conclusion through the collectively bargained process. The jury’s finding supplies a determination that Hill more likely than not committed battery twice.
Florio also wrote that Hill’s 2015 guilty plea to domestic assault and battery by strangulation, in an incident involving his then-pregnant girlfriend, could count as an aggravating factor if the league finds a violation. A team signing Hill assumes the risk of a suspension during the 2026 season.
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