ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� A brother of player has been charged with murder after police found their 71-year-old mother dead at her home in Atlanta during a welfare check.
Arrest warrants say Nateal Campbell鈥檚 throat was cut and Ciarre Campbell was found in possession of a knife. Officers found her unresponsive when they arrived at around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to a police statement.
Ciarre Campbell, 41, was booked into the Fulton County Jail, where he was being held without bond, and waived his initial court hearing Wednesday on charges including aggravated assault and murder. A lawyer listed for him in online court records did not immediately return an email and voicemail seeking comment on the charges.
In a 911 call released by police, an unidentified man can be heard asking for a wellness check. He tells the dispatcher that he is trying to get inside his mother’s house with his brother and sister-in-law. He says they can see another brother, who is 鈥渕entally ill鈥� and lives with their mom, inside the home. The caller says the brother inside had said their mother left but a neighbor’s camera footage shows she didn’t.
Police records show that before Tuesday, officers had received nine calls for service to that address since September for a variety of reasons, including a fight in progress, a suspicious person and an earlier welfare check.
The Campbell family issued a statement asking for privacy while they deal with 鈥渙verwhelming grief.鈥�
鈥淲e are devastated to share that the Campbell Family has lost its matriarch, Mrs. Nateal Campbell,鈥� the family statement said. 鈥淲hile the details of her passing are still being investigated, we take comfort in knowing she is reunited with our father, her beloved Chuck, and in the arms of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.鈥�
A for the Baltimore Ravens, Calais Campbell is entering his 19th NFL season after signing a one-year, $5.5 million contract in April. He is the oldest active defensive player in the NFL going into the 2026 season. He will be 40 on Sept. 1.
The 2017 first-team AP All-Pro selection has been voted to the Pro Bowl six times in a career that started as a second-round pick in 2008 with the Arizona Cardinals.
The former Miami Hurricane spent 10 seasons with the Cardinals and also played in Jacksonville, Atlanta and Miami.
Campbell has 117 career sacks in 278 games, including 259 starts.
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