Carmello Brooks

Introduction

Carmello Dedric Brooks is a 19-year-old American college football player, a sophomore defensive lineman on the University of Houston Cougars roster, who was arrested on Thursday, September 17, 2026, by the University of Houston Police Department and charged with felony assault on a pregnant individual over an alleged attack on his girlfriend, Nariah Harley. According to allegations discussed at his probable cause hearing, the dispute involved Harley’s refusal to take an abortion pill, and investigators say Brooks squeezed her arms, picked her up, slammed her to the ground and sat on her to pin her down. Brooks posted a $15,000 bond, but a judge raised it to $50,000 on September 21, and his attorney said he has been suspended from the football team while the case proceeds. Harley disputes investigators’ account, appeared in court to ask that the charges be dropped, and told reporters she would feel “forever guilt” if the case ended his football career.

Background Information

Brooks is listed as a sophomore defensive lineman from Katy, Texas, who joined the Cougars after a high-school career in which he was rated a three-star prospect and named the No. 100 defensive lineman nationally, according to his university biography. He had not appeared in a game during the 2026 season and had not been part of the team’s travel squad due to his position on the roster, according to the university and ESPN. The Times of India reported that Harley is also from Killeen, Texas, and attends Texas Southern University, and that Brooks grew up with the women involved in his earlier case in Killeen and had known them since high school.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations, not convictions. The criminal charges described here were filed by prosecutors and are unproven allegations; Brooks is presumed innocent unless and until convicted in court. The account Harley gives differs from the allegations in the complaint, and both are described below as reported.

According to the criminal complaint, prosecutors accuse Brooks of “intentionally, knowingly and recklessly” causing “bodily injury” to a woman “by picking her up and slamming her to the ground,” and allege that “at the time of the assault the defendant knew the complainant was pregnant.” At a probable cause hearing the day after his arrest, an officer testified that Harley had recently discovered she was pregnant; officers reported seeing visible injuries, according to court records. Details revealed in court on Monday, September 21 indicated the dispute involved the woman’s alleged refusal to take an abortion pill, KPRC 2 reported, and the New York Post wrote that the clash followed Harley telling Brooks she would not take one.

Harley has given a sharply different account. She told KPRC 2 that the two argued at Brooks’ home after she learned she was pregnant, that she refused to leave when he asked her multiple times, and that Brooks was the one who called 911 before picking her up and placing her outside — “He then just picked me up and gently put me out the apartment,” she said, claiming the responding officer misunderstood after seeing her bruised arm. “I was way too close to him, almost putting my hands on him,” she told the station, which also noted she disputes investigators’ claim that Brooks slammed her to the ground. The arrest was not Brooks’ first criminal case involving a pregnant woman: he was charged in August with misdemeanor criminal mischief after, investigators allege, a conversation with a different woman — with whom he had been in a sexual relationship — escalated at her home, he became verbally aggressive and tried to leave with her keys, damaging the door handle, which investigators wrote appeared consistent with having been forcefully pulled inward. A warrant was filed in that case, and he had been summoned to appear in court on it the day after his arrest.

Public Reaction and Consequences

At a September 21 hearing, Judge Matthew Peneguy raised Brooks’ bond from $15,000 to $50,000, and Brooks was taken back into custody before his attorney said he was expected to post the new amount and be released. At his first court appearance a judge had ordered him to have no contact with the alleged victim, and his status as a University of Houston student was confirmed in court, according to ABC13 reporting cited by Hoodline; he had been booked into the Harris County jail before posting his initial bond. A University of Houston Athletics spokesperson said, “We are aware of an incident involving a Houston Football student-athlete. We take all allegations of this nature very seriously and are gathering more information.” Harley appeared in court and asked directly for the case to end: “I would like for all the charges to be dismissed, dropped by the DA,” she said, according to ABC13 reporting cited by the Times of India, which wrote that she told the court she is the mother of Brooks’ child, not his victim. Brooks’ attorney, Brent Wasserstein, said in a statement, “We know there are important facts that need to be carefully considered and we fully expect those facts to clearly prove Carmello’s complete innocence as the investigation progresses,” and told the court that police body-camera footage and the 911 call Brooks made still needed review.

Current Status

As of September 22, 2026, the felony charge remains pending: Brooks was expected to post the raised $50,000 bond, and his arraignment is scheduled for October, according to KPRC 2. The separate misdemeanor criminal mischief case from August is also pending, and no trial has begun and no conviction exists on any count; Wasserstein said Brooks will comply with the court’s requirements and allow the case to move through the legal process. The prosecution’s review of the 911 call and the body-camera footage that the defense expects to be exculpatory remains an early open question in the case.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Brooks’ attorney said he has been suspended from the Houston football team while both cases work through the system, and has “a great deal at stake,” including his education, football career and future; Wasserstein said he hopes Brooks will at least be allowed back in the classroom while the charges are pending. Harley told reporters she would suffer “forever guilt” if the case ended the football career of the player the New York Post described as a former three-star prospect, and national coverage has paired the felony charge with the earlier August criminal case.

Sources

The New York Post, “College football star accused of slamming pregnant girlfriend on the ground for refusing to take abortion pill,” September 22, 2026 — source
KPRC 2 Click2Houston, “New details emerge after UH football player’s bond raised in assault case involving pregnant woman,” September 21, 2026 — source
Daily Mail, “College football star arrested for assault after allegedly ‘slamming a pregnant woman to the ground’,” September 22, 2026 — source
WKRC Local 12, “College football player accused of picking up, slamming pregnant woman to ground,” September 20, 2026 — source
Hoodline, “UH Lineman Carmello Brooks Accused of Slamming Pregnant Woman to the Ground,” September 19, 2026 — source
The Times of India, “Assault case against UH football star takes unexpected turn as girlfriend asks court to drop charges tied to alleged attack on a pregnant woman,” September 22, 2026 — source
@nypost on X, “College football star accused of slamming pregnant girlfriend on the ground for refusing to take abortion pill,” September 22, 2026 — source