Chris Henry's Fiancee Speaks

[BengalRep85-9]

Chris Henry's fiancée said Monday that she wasn't driving fast when Henry was fatally injured after she says he jumped out of the back of a moving pickup she was driving on Dec. 16.

"I think he thought maybe he was going to land. He was going to land right," Loleini (Leini) Tonga told ESPN Outside the Lines reporter John Barr in an interview, her first public comments about the day Henry died.

"I wasn't going fast. Maybe he was scared because he saw someone calling the police," Tonga said.

Henry was taken off life support in North Carolina on Dec. 17. The official cause of death was listed as blunt-force trauma. He was 26.

The traffic incident, which is still under investigation, followed a domestic dispute between Henry and Tonga at the Charlotte home owned by Tonga's parents, according to police. Tonga would not say what the couple argued about but did acknowledge that there was a verbal argument and that she wanted to leave the home.

Tonga told Barr that Henry jumped, rather than fell, from the back of the pickup.

"He jumped," she said. "He jumped. He jumped from the back of the car."

Tonga didn't give a specific speed, but she said she wasn't driving fast in the 35-mph zone. "I know I wasn't going fast at all because I was trying to drive slow because I knew he was in the back standing up," she said.

She also told Barr that she didn't stop because there was nowhere to stop on the road. The interview will air Sunday on Outside The Lines (9 a.m. ET, ESPN).

A neighbor, Lee Hardy, said on the day Henry died that he heard Henry say that if Tonga kept driving, he'd jump from the truck and kill himself. Tonga doesn't think that was the case.

"I have no idea what was going through his mind," she said. "But as far as him wanting to end his life, no, he had too much going on. I know he wouldn't want to be gone away from his kids. He loves his kids. And everything was going really good. It's just that one day ..."

Henry was in North Carolina, where he had been recovering from a broken forearm that ended his season, and planning for his March wedding with Tonga. Tonga denied media reports that the couple argued over wedding plans the day of Henry's death.

Police said Henry and Tonga got into an argument at the Tonga family home and she drove away on a curvy residential street in suburban Charlotte.

Henry jumped into the truck's bed. A 911 caller told a dispatcher she saw a shirtless man wearing a cast "beating on the back of this truck window."

Police said Tonga stopped to assist Henry when he fell about a half-mile from the home. Tonga and Henry had two children together, Chris Jr. and DeMarcus, and they also cared for Tonga's other child, Seini.

Henry also leaves behind a fourth child, his daughter Denalya, from a previous relationship.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4795776

[-GoBengals-]

everything about these comments rubs me the wrong way....

no questions are answered here...

[B.A.B.]

Yeah, I saw it on ESPN and immediately turned the channel. meh.

[bgwilly31]

Why come out the week before the our Playoff game. She is guilty as hell and this pisses me off on a exciting week.

Even if her story is [u]Completely[/u] true. As far as i understand she wasnt at the scene when police arrived. she was also not the person who called the police.

If you had nothing to do with the death and was a total accident dont you think your wife would stop and hold you through your last moments until the medics arrived.>?

Argghh eff this topic.

[-GoBengals-]

she was at the scene...

[bgwilly31]

i thought i read in the intial reports police arrived to henry laying in the middle of the road by himself.

if she was there that looks better on her. But her interview definitely seems like she's hiding something or not telling the whole truth.

[|SF2|]

She was there. Even if she was going 25 which is slow in a 35, hitting your head at that speed could be prove to be fatal.

If you ever had to take a motorcycle safety course the instructors make it quite clear with pretty graphic film what a crash at even 20 mph can do if you are not wearing a helmet.

[MULLY]

[quote name='bgwilly31' date='05 January 2010 - 12:08 PM' timestamp='1262657287' post='852023']
i thought i read in the intial reports police arrived to henry laying in the middle of the road by himself.

if she was there that looks better on her. But her interview definitely seems like she's hiding something or not telling the whole truth.
[/quote]


That's funny because from what I understood from the beginning was that she stopped to help him after he fell/jumped from the truck. As for him lying in the road by himself, well, he was the only injured person laying in the road.
MULLY
shouldn't this be in the Henry forum?

[|Elflocko|]

I took a motorcycle safety course at the CC here, and the guy teaching the course got the job because his predecessor fell off the back of a stationary motorcycle while not wearing a helmet, cracked his head on the pavement and punched his ticket.

I never did get that motorcycle...

[|BengalsFREAK|]

Where the story falls apart for me is where she acts like she was driving slow and cautiously. The tire tracks in the front yard suggest anything but safe and cautious driving.

[Jeb]

[quote name='BengalsFREAK' date='05 January 2010 - 01:42 AM' timestamp='1262670171' post='852067']
Where the story falls apart for me is where she acts like she was driving slow and cautiously. The tire tracks in the front yard suggest anything but safe and cautious driving.
[/quote]

Yep.

Too many problems with the whole story and the witness who was best friends with the family, out trimming his trees, and overheard Henry's whole conversation while the vehicle was moving (kind of lengthy conversation), ...doesn't pass the sniff test. At this point, ...I'd like the whole story to just go away.

[Cricket]

[quote name='Jeb' date='05 January 2010 - 01:59 AM' timestamp='1262671151' post='852069']
Yep.

Too many problems with the whole story and the witness who was best friends with the family, out trimming his trees, and [b]overheard Henry's whole conversation[/b] while the vehicle was moving (kind of lengthy conversation), ...doesn't pass the sniff test. At this point, ...I'd like the whole story to just go away.
[/quote]

I don't think he heard the "whole conversation" since the accident happened nearly a mile away.

[Jeb]

[quote name='Cricket' date='05 January 2010 - 02:35 AM' timestamp='1262673321' post='852074']
I don't think he heard the "whole conversation" since the accident happened nearly a mile away.
[/quote]

This interview shows that she's never going to be able to fully explain it to the kids when they get older.

[8675309]

I really don't care how fast she was driving or what the dispute was all about...The fact is, Henry jumped into the back of a moving pickup truck and got thrown out (or jumped out). I find it hard to blame her on any level for Henry's death.

Would any one here jump into a moving truck bed with a angry person at the wheel? My guess is some will say yes.

[Memphis_Bengal]

[quote name='8675309' date='05 January 2010 - 03:05 AM' timestamp='1262678712' post='852078']
I really don't care how fast she was driving or what the dispute was all about...The fact is, Henry jumped into the back of a moving pickup truck and got thrown out (or jumped out). I find it hard to blame her on any level for Henry's death.

Would any one here jump into a moving truck bed with a angry person at the wheel? My guess is some will say yes.
[/quote]

If somebody I truly loved jumped in the bed of a truck I was driving I would slowly decelerate until the truck was completely stopped and then get out and ask the person what the fck they were doing. But that's just me.

[oldschooler]

[b][size="5"]Chris Henry's fiancee says he jumped out of the truck[/size][/b]
Posted by Mike Florio on January 4, 2010 10:17 PM ET



With the possibility of criminal charges still looming, Loleini Tonga tells ESPN's John Barr that deceased Bengals receiver Chris Henry jumped out of the back of the truck she was driving on December 16.

"I think he thought maybe he was going to land. [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4795776"]He was going to land right[/url]," she said in an interview that will be aired in its entirety on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. ET.

"I wasn't going fast," she added. "Maybe he was scared because he saw someone calling the police."

She didn't specify the speed of the vehicle, but she insists she was trying to be careful.

"I know I wasn't going fast at all because I was trying to drive slow because I knew he was in the back standing up," she said.

She also says there was no suitable place on the road for stopping.

We understand that she has been through an extremely traumatic event, but we also realize that she is concerned that criminal charges could arise from allegations that she failed to stop the truck or that she was driving it too fast or that she intentionally tried to eject Henry. And her explanation needs to be considered in light of her obvious desire to avoid compounding a bad situation by going to jail for what she genuinely believes was a horrible accident.

Still, the explanation doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Why would he calmly and deliberately choose to jump out of the truck at a time when he was reportedly beating on the back window? And why wouldn't he simply sit down in the bed of the truck if she was driving slowly and everything was fine and she simply didn't have a spot where she could pull over so he could get out?

Based on the objective evidence, it's reasonable to infer either that he fell because of the speed or movement of the vehicle -- or that she tried to knock him out assuming that he would not suffer serious (or fatal) injuries. Under either scenario, she could face criminal charges for causing or contributing to Henry's death, if it can be proven that her version of the events doesn't mesh with the available facts, or with common sense.




[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/01/04/chris-henrys-fiancee-says-he-jumped-out-of-the-truck/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/01/04/chris-henrys-fiancee-says-he-jumped-out-of-the-truck/[/url]

[fredtoast]

There is no way she can be blamed for Henry's death. he was the one that assumed the risk of jumping into the back of a pick up truck, and he was the one that was either too mad or too stupid to sit down. It is impossible to throw someone from the back of a pick up truck if that person is sitting down.

This was a terrible tragedy, and she may feel that she should have been more careful, but there is no way she is to blame.

[fredtoast]

[quote name='Memphis_Bengal' date='05 January 2010 - 09:41 AM' timestamp='1262698883' post='852104']
If somebody I truly loved jumped in the bed of a truck I was driving I would slowly decelerate until the truck was completely stopped and then get out and ask the person what the fck they were doing. But that's just me.
[/quote]

He was beating on the window with his cast. Maybe she was a little afraid of him at that time.

Also if I jumped into the back of a pick up truck and the driver wouldn't stop I would be smart enough to sit down. BUt that's just me.

[bgwilly31]

[quote name='Memphis_Bengal' date='05 January 2010 - 09:41 AM' timestamp='1262698883' post='852104']
If somebody I truly loved jumped in the bed of a truck I was driving I would slowly decelerate until the truck was completely stopped and then get out and ask the person what the fck they were doing. But that's just me.
[/quote]


Exactly any normal person would have stopped the truck.

lets say you just got in a fight with your mom. You get in your truck to drive off and your mom jumps int he truck. Wouldnt you stop immediately>? I know i would.

[fredtoast]

[quote name='bgwilly31' date='05 January 2010 - 12:14 PM' timestamp='1262708043' post='852233']
Exactly any normal person would have stopped the truck.

lets say you just got in a fight with your mom. You get in your truck to drive off and your mom jumps int he truck. Wouldnt you stop immediately>? I know i would.
[/quote]

This is like arguing that it is okay to let your kids play in the road because most people will stop for them. Henry was the one who was acting recklessly by standing up ion the back of a pick up truck, there is no way you can blame anyone but him.

BTW What if your mom was a lot bigger than you, had a violent criminal history, and was beating on the window with a club? Maybe the smart thing to do would be to let her to cool down a bit before stopping.

[Jeb]

[quote name='fredtoast' date='05 January 2010 - 11:56 AM' timestamp='1262706962' post='852221']
There is no way she can be blamed for Henry's death. he was the one that assumed the risk of jumping into the back of a pick up truck, and he was the one that was either too mad or too stupid to sit down. It is impossible to throw someone from the back of a pick up truck if that person is sitting down.

This was a terrible tragedy, and she may feel that she should have been more careful, but there is no way she is to blame.
[/quote]

The law is the law and the driver is responsible unless fear of bodily injury is involved and she said there was none. Also, according to her, the tree trimmer was wrong and he did not try to commit suicide. Under those circumstances, ...the driver is always accountable.

[Jamie_B]

[quote name='Jeb' date='05 January 2010 - 12:22 PM' timestamp='1262708573' post='852242']
The law is the law and the driver is responsible unless fear of bodily injury is involved and she said there was none. Also, according to her, the tree trimmer was wrong and he did not try to commit suicide. Under those circumstances, ...the driver is always accountable.
[/quote]


You know fred is a lawyer right? Your really going to argue law with him?

[Jeb]

[quote name='Jamie_B' date='05 January 2010 - 12:25 PM' timestamp='1262708707' post='852244']
You know fred is a lawyer right? Your really going to argue law with him?
[/quote]

...even better. Bring him on!

[oldschooler]

[quote name='fredtoast' date='05 January 2010 - 11:20 AM' timestamp='1262708441' post='852240']
This is like arguing that it is okay to let your kids play in the road because most people will stop for them. Henry was the one who was acting recklessly by standing up ion the back of a pick up truck, there is no way you can blame anyone but him.

BTW What if your mom was a lot bigger than you, [b]had a violent criminal history[/b], and was beating on the window with a club? Maybe the smart thing to do would be to let her to cool down a bit before stopping.
[/quote]



What is Henry's violent criminal history?


I am not blaming her for Henry's death, but I am not blaming Henry either.
That's why it would be called an accident.


Maybe you should just stay out of the Henry threads from now on, Fred.

[Jeb]

[quote name='fredtoast' date='05 January 2010 - 11:57 AM' timestamp='1262707061' post='852222']
He was beating on the window with his cast. Maybe she was a little afraid of him at that time.

Also if I jumped into the back of a pick up truck and the driver wouldn't stop I would be smart enough to sit down. BUt that's just me.
[/quote]

Apparently, emotions between both parties was running wild. Even more reason why the driver is at fault in the eyes of the law.