Brooks faces an assault-on-a-pregnant-person caption. A girlfriend's ask to drop charges is not a dismissal.

A girlfriend's ask to drop charges is not a dismissal, and an assault-on-a-pregnant-person caption is not a conviction. Carmello Brooks, 19, a Houston Cougars defensive lineman from Katy, is charged after a Thursday apartment clash with girlfriend Nariah Harley, who said she was pregnant and would not take an abortion pill. Monday hearing testimony alleged he squeezed her arms, slammed her to the ground, and sat on her to pin her.

Officers reported visible injuries. Harley has since denied he was at fault and wants the charges dropped. She says he called 911 because she would not leave, and that he "picked me up and gently put me out." A later account from the complaining witness is her statement. It does not dismiss a case, and it does not turn hearing testimony into a verdict. A request to drop charges is a request. It is not an order.

A separate August misdemeanor criminal-mischief case involves a different pregnant woman and a door-damage or keys dispute. He is due in court Friday on that matter. A second file is a second file. It is not proof of the assault caption, and Friday is a calendar date, not a finding. Houston Athletics said it is aware and gathering information. Brooks is suspended from the University of Houston team. A suspension is an athletics decision. It is not a guilty plea, and it is not a verdict. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.