Earlier in August, a report emerged that Youngstown State’s football program finally gave into the pressure and suspended a player for the entire season. The player in question is Ma’Lik Richmond, and his suspension came four years after he was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl while in high school.

Richmond was a high school football player in 2013 when he was convicted of rape, and four years later while at Youngstown State, it’s now Ma’Lik’s father who is in trouble with the law.

Nathaniel Richmond has been identified as the man who shot Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr., 65, around 8 a.m. local time in Steubenville, Ohio on Monday. Richmond was later shot and killed by a probation officer after shooting the judge, according to ESPN.

The shootings occurred about 30 miles West of Pittsburgh in Steubenville, Ohio. Ma’Lik attended Steubenville High School when he was convicted of a rape that occurred back in 2012.

Jefferson County Prosector Jane Hanlin told reporters that the big question facing investigators right now is if the shooting and rape case are related. Ma’Lik Richmond’s original rape case was overseen mostly by a visiting judge from Hamilton County, which encompasses Cincinnati, not Bruzzese.

When Richmond first shot at Bruzzese, the judge shot back at him before the probation officer shot and killed Richmond. Judge Bruzzese was flown to a hospital in the Pittsburgh area and Ohio Governor John Kasich said he would survive.

“Everybody knows who parks there,” Judge Joseph Corabi said. “That’s why it’s not an accident what happened. He was clearly an intended target.”

Corabi and the two other county judges have reserved parking spots next to the courthouse. The shooting occurred as Bruzzese was walking from his parked car into the courthouse.

“He is very intelligent, and he can cut to the chase,” Corabi said about Bruzzese. “He spots issues, and he resolves the issues.”

A man who was reportedly in the car with Richmond has been taken into custody following the events that unfolded in Ohio on Monday.

Once again, Richmond is the father of a Ma’Lik Richmond, a junior defensive end at Youngstown State who was convicted in 2013 of raping a 16-year-old girl in a case that made national news and was forced to serve a year for his crime. Somehow and some way, Youngstown State still felt they should give him a shot to play this season, before eventually announcing he wouldn’t play.

[ESPN]

About David Lauterbach

David is a writer for The Comeback. He enjoyed two Men's Basketball Final Four trips for Syracuse before graduating in 2016. If The Office or Game of Thrones is on TV, David will be watching.