Alleged victim in Silvio De Sousa battery case has permanent eye damage: affidavit
A man no longer has vision in his left eye after he was allegedly struck in the face by former Kansas basketball player Silvio De Sousa outside a Lawrence bar early on New Year’s Day, according to an affidavit filed in Douglas County District Court.
The five-page document, released to The Kansas City Star on Tuesday, outlines probable cause for the felony charge of aggravated battery that prosecutors filed against De Sousa last month. The charge came about a week after De Sousa announced plans to opt out of playing this season and leave the Jayhawks’ team.
According to the affidavit, the alleged victim contacted a Lawrence police officer in the Lawrence Memorial Hospital parking lot around 2:40 a.m. on Jan. 1. He had blood that appeared to be coming from his left eye, the affidavit said, and told the officer he’d been in a fight at Brother’s Bar before asking how to get to the emergency room.
The officer later asked the man what had happened, and he said after two drinks, he walked outside Brother’s to cool off. He said once doing that, he saw and heard “two young blond females arguing with a tall black male,” according to the affidavit, and told him to “shut the (expletive) up.”
The alleged victim said he wasn’t aware of the details of the altercation, but he knew he’d been struck at least once in the left eye by the tall black male, saying he’d been hit by a closed right fist. The alleged victim said he didn’t black out, but he did recall going to one knee after getting hit, and when he stood up, the black male was being held back by others.
The alleged victim’s mother contacted the officer later that day, saying her son was mildly autistic and that she was his legal guardian. She reported her son had been transferred to Shawnee Mission Medical Center, where he underwent eye surgery.
She said her son was told in August that he would not regain vision in his left eye. According to the affidavit, the family has begun exploring a prosthetic.
According to the affidavit, police reviewed video from Brother’s Bar and a doorman identified both De Sousa and the alleged victim. The doorman told police he’d witnessed a man he recognized as De Sousa “slap another man who was leaning on a light pole or a parking meter.” Two other witnesses told police De Sousa struck the alleged victim in the face with an open hand. One witness stated the alleged victim “did nothing, other than yell shut up, to warrant being struck by Mr. De Sousa,” the affidavit said.
On Oct. 7, according to the affidavit, the officer contacted De Sousa’s attorney Hatem Chahine to ask De Sousa would be willing to meet with investigators. Chahine said De Sousa would not be interested. A week later, Chahine contacted the officer to say he’d spoken with his client and that De Sousa wanted to provide a statement about the incident.
The officer and a detective met Chahine and De Sousa on Oct. 15 in a dining room at McCarthy Hall, the on-campus dorm that houses KU’s basketball players, according to the affidavit. De Sousa told police he was outside the bar waiting for an Uber when a man became verbally abusive to one of his friends, with De Sousa recalling that the man had said to “shut the (expletive) up” before approaching he and his friends. De Sousa said he stepped toward the man and “swatted” at him with his right hand but missed. De Sousa said the man shouted something else derogatory, and De Sousa said he used his right hand to “swat” at the man, striking him in the right cheek area.
De Sousa said the man did not fall when he was struck, according to the affidavit, and stated when he left, the man was not bleeding.
The police officers informed De Sousa that witnesses’ accounts of the event contradicted his account, according to the affidavit. De Sousa did not add to his statement after that.
Neither Chahine or De Sousa could be reached for comment before publication time.
De Sousa, who is from Angola, was suspended last season for 12 games by the Big 12 Conference for his role in a fight at the end of the KU-Kansas State game at Allen Fieldhouse. For the season, he played in just 18 games, averaging 2.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. He averaged 8.2 minutes a game.
De Sousa, 22, has been part of the NCAA’s inquiry into KU basketball. The NCAA initially ruled on Feb. 1, 2019 that De Sousa must sit out the remainder of the 2018-19 basketball season and all of 2019-20 “because his guardian received payment from a university booster and agent and agreed to receive additional funds from the same person.”
KU appealed the NCAA decision, and on May 24, 2019, the NCAA announced that De Sousa had won his appeal and would be eligible to play during the 2019–20 season.
The Star’s Gary Bedore contributed to this story.
