The fate of ex-NFL player Kevin Ware Jr. has been set. The former Washington Redskins player was first indicted back in 2022 for murder and tampering charges, just over a year after his girlfriend, Taylor Pomanski, disappeared. Per official documents, she was last seen at her home at a party in April of 2021 in Texas.
“Police searched for clues in her disappearance, but were unable to find anything until December of that year, when the Harris County Sheriff’s Department discovered human remains in a north Harris County ditch,” People reports. “The remains were identified as Pomaski at the end of April 2022.”
According to further court documents, the former San Francisco 49er was accused of “using a knife, a blunt object, and strangulation, along with a manner and means unknown to the grand jury” to kill Pomaski. Documents also detail that a woman alleges that Ware told her he “cut Pomaski’s throat and burned her body,” taking a cell phone photo of the fire when it happened.
Ware reportedly agreed to take a plea deal just this Wednesday, a few days before jury selection was set to begin for his trial, per People. In court, Judge Brian Warren pressured Ware Jr. to accept the plea deal after the prosecution presented it. Judge Warren reportedly told him, “I’m going to play football with you right now.” He also explained that he could face life in prison if he let this deal expire. After asking for time to “think about” the deal, Ware returned after twenty minutes and accepted it.
Ware, who plead guilty, accepted 30 years in prison “for murder and tampering with evidence, specifically a corpse, in the 2021 death of Pomaski.”
Ware played college football for the University of Washington before eventually making it to the NFL. He the 2003 and 2004 NFL seasons with the Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers.
Ware’s formal sentencing is currently scheduled for Friday, May 9th. He will carry out this sentence along with his drug and weapons charges from 2021.
Ware was arrested on “two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, and unlawful possession of a firearm as a felon.” He was released on $23,000 bond in April 2021, just days before Pomaski disappeared, and eventually given a 15-year concurrent sentence for both charges after taking a plea deal.