A Miami jury held NFL star Tyreek Hill liable on two battery counts and awarded his estranged wife $500,000, clearing him on eight other claims.
The civil verdict came Tuesday in a Miami courtroom. Jurors found the 32-year-old wide receiver liable for battery in incidents from January 2024 and April 2025, NBC News reported.
They awarded Lakeeta Vaccaro, 30, $500,000 in compensatory damages. They gave her no punitive damages. On the other eight claims, more battery, assault, and continuing domestic violence counts, the jury found Hill not liable.
The split result left both sides with something to claim and plenty left unsettled. It also left Hill’s football future no clearer than it was when he walked into court.
Vaccaro took the stand and described physical abuse inside their marriage. She said Hill pulled her hair. She told the jury he “treated me like I was, just, a man.”
"treated me like I was, just, a man."
Those words framed her case. She asked the jury to hold a famous athlete to the same standard as anyone else accused of putting hands on a spouse.
Hill’s side called the broader case a stack of false claims. The jury’s mixed verdict showed it believed some of what Vaccaro described, and rejected much of the rest.
Hill testified last week. He mostly denied the allegations and branded them “false allegations.”
He did not deny everything. In one instance, he said he shoved Vaccaro and “created a hole in the wall.”
"created a hole in the wall."
That admission mattered. Civil juries weigh credibility in pieces. They can accept one violent moment and still refuse to rubber-stamp every charge on the list. That is what this panel did.
Two battery counts stuck. Eight claims did not. Compensatory damages landed at half a million dollars. Punitive damages did not.
After the verdict, Hill embraced one of his attorneys and shook hands with the others. He left the courtroom by himself.
What the finding means for his NFL career was not immediately clear. Hill has played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins. He is still working back from a dislocated knee and torn ligaments suffered in September 2025 while with the Dolphins.
His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has indicated Hill could be ready to play by November. A civil battery verdict is not the same as a criminal conviction. Teams, the league, and insurers still have to decide what risk they will carry.
Vaccaro leaves with a money judgment and a partial win on the record. Hill leaves liable on two counts, cleared on eight, and still rehabbing a major leg injury. Neither walks away with a clean slate.
Star power does not erase battery findings. When a jury says a player put hands on his wife, the check and the permanent record both follow, on and off the field.
