Khalil Lee, a 24-year-old outfielder in the New York Mets’ organization, is facing a lawsuit from an ex-girlfriend accusing him of physical abuse last year. The lawsuit in question was filed by Keriwyn Hill Wednesday. Hill’s lawsuit alleges that Lee kicked her, pulled her hair, and choked her during an argument in Syracuse (home of the Mets’ triple-A team, where Lee was mostly playing last season) on May 7, 2022, which led to her going to the police the next day and to an arrest warrant signed for Lee last August (for criminal obstruction of breath, a misdemeanor):
Ex-girlfriend alleges Mets outfielder assaulted her in Syracuse; warrant, lawsuit target player https://t.co/dxcVEXoje2
— syracuse.com (@syracusedotcom) February 1, 2023
Here’s more on that from that Syracuse.com piece, by Anne Hayes:
That led to an argument around midnight. Lee kicked her in the thigh causing her to fall down, her lawsuit claims. She began crying and Lee called her dramatic, it claims.
After Lee called her ugly, Hill slapped Lee in the face and walked away, she says. Lee then grabbed Hill’s box braids and “yanked her backward” causing her to hit the kitchen island, she alleges.
Hill felt Lee’s hand around her neck but could not breathe or speak to tell him to let her go, she claims. After around 10 to 15 seconds, Lee let go and pushed Hill away from him.
She ended up at a hotel, where she took photos of the bruises and marks left by the assault and reached out to another friend.
Lee’s time in the MLB pipeline began in 2016, when the Kansas City Royals drafted him in the third round out of high school and he signed with them. He was seen as a top prospect there for several years, but then was sent to the Mets as part of a three-team trade in February 2021 (which saw the Royals pick up Andrew Benintendi and the Boston Red Sox acquire Franchy Cordero, Josh Winckowski, and three players to be named later). He played 102 and 100 games with Syracuse over the past two seasons, plus 11 games with the big-league Mets in 2021 and two this past season (including the June 11 game seen above). We’ll see if this lawsuit impacts his future with the organization.
[Syracuse.com; photo from Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports]
