LAWRENCE, Kan. — Silvio De Sousa is facing a felony charge for an alleged battery that occurred nearly a year before he announced he was leaving the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team.
Douglas County (Kan.) District Court records show De Sousa has been issued a criminal summons and has a Dec. 17 first appearance scheduled. No attorney for De Sousa was listed in court records and he could not be reached for comment.
According to a criminal complaint, De Sousa is accused of aggravated battery, a Level 5 felony. A prosecutor alleges De Sousa "unlawfully, feloniously and recklessly cause(d) great bodily harm or disfigurement to another person." The Star has requested the probable cause report associated with the felony charge.
The alleged incident occurred on Jan. 1, according to Dorothy Kliem, a trial assistant with the Douglas County District Attorney's office, in an email to The Star. Witnesses listed on the charging documents include Lawrence Memorial Hospital emergency room personnel as well as Shawnee Mission Medical Center and a Kansas City eye doctor.
Lawrence police logs show a 2:36 a.m. call on Jan. 1 for a battery in the 1100 block of Massachusetts Street. Patrick Compton, a Lawrence police spokesperson, told The Star on Wednesday that a person approached a police officer at a local hospital on Jan. 1 claiming to have been involved in a fight outside of a bar at that location earlier that morning.
Compton said the police officer was at the hospital working on another case when contacted by the person, who had transported themselves to the hospital. The person was admitted for injuries sustained during the fight, Compton said.
Kliem said the district attorney's office received an affidavit and reports from Lawrence police on Sept. 30 and an updated affidavit on Oct. 16 before charges were filed Monday.
"The case was reviewed promptly upon receipt and a charging decision was made promptly thereafter," Kliem wrote.
De Sousa and KU basketball coach Bill Self said on Oct. 16 that De Sousa was leaving the team to focus on "personal issues."
The Star asked Self whether he was aware De Sousa was facing a criminal investigation before the announcement was made that he was leaving the team. Self issued a statement Wednesday that indicated the investigation was a factor in De Sousa's departure.
"Earlier this fall, Silvio told me that he had been contacted by local authorities regarding his alleged involvement in an incident on New Year's Eve," Self said Wednesday. "He was not aware of the details from that incident until a couple weeks ago, which he then shared with me.
"These allegations were surprising to Silvio, as they were to us. Once we discussed the details, he decided it was in his best interest to opt out and focus on this matter. We mutually agreed that was the best course of action."
Self's statement on Oct. 16 referenced a conversation with De Sousa.
"Today, Silvio informed me he was going to opt out of the 2020-21 season and focus on matters in his personal life. Knowing Silvio, it was clear he had been distracted and not fully focused during workouts as of late," Self said then. "After he and I sat down and talked about that, it was clear this was the best decision for him, and Kansas basketball, to leave the program."
De Sousa also issued a statement Oct. 16 about leaving the KU team.
"I have made the difficult decision to opt out of this season to focus all of my energies on some personal issues," De Sousa posted on Twitter. "I have a lot of things weighing on my mind and need to address these by taking time for myself and stepping away from basketball. I do not know what my next plan will be right now, but I will decide that when the time is right.
"This was not an easy decision to leave the basketball program, but it's the best thing for me to do right now."
When asked about the length of the police investigation before the case was turned over to prosecutors, Compton said it was approached like any other. He cited the number of witnesses that were interviewed and setting up interviews in the era of COVID as factors.
"So the length of this one is not abnormal when you consider all those factors," he said.
De Sousa was playing for the KU basketball team on Jan. 1. He was later suspended for 12 games for his involvement at the center of a brawl near the end of the KU-Kansas State game Jan. 21 in Allen Fieldhouse. De Sousa threw punches and then briefly lifted a stool above his head and looked as though he was going to swing it. He was among four players suspended.
He was only able to play for the Jayhawks last season because Kansas successfully appealed his two-year NCAA suspension. De Sousa had been ruled ineligible because of alleged payments made by an Adidas employee to De Sousa's guardian. Those payments were cited in a NCAA notice of allegations sent to KU last fall that charged the basketball program and Self with five Level I violations.
