There has officially been a charge filed for the man that allegedly shot rookie New York Giants defensive back Corey Ballentine.
Back in April, the New York Giants selected defensive back Corey Ballentine in the sixth round of the draft. Then, later that night, Ballentine was involved in a shooting at his college, Washburn University. The shooting wounded Ballentine and killed his friend Dwane Simmons.
On Friday, a man was finally charged in the shooting.
Per the Associated Press, Francisco Alejandro Mendez was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and five counts of aggravated battery. The 18-year-old is currently being held on $1 million bond.
Ballentine missed the Giants’ rookie minicamp back in May due to recovering from the injuries sustained during the shooting.
In 46 games for Washburn, the Kansas native racked up 186 combined tackles along with 10 tackles for loss, five interceptions, and four forced fumbles. He’ll come into training camp with a chance to compete for playing time in the secondary.
Ballentine is one of three defensive backs that the Giants selected in the draft. The Giants also took cornerback DeAndre Baker in the first round (No. 30 overall) out of the University of Georgia. They also selected Julian Love in the fourth round (No. 108 overall) out of Notre Dame.
Those three, along with newly-acquired safety Jabrill Peppers, will make up a mostly young group at the defensive back position. They’ll have to step up and perform well though, due to the fact that this group lost All-Pro safety Landon Collins this offseason.
