High School Football Star Wrongly Held In Murder Case

A high school football player in New York City spent five hours in custody Friday because police wrongly believed he was involved in the murder of another teenager -- even as his coaches insisted he hadn't been anywhere but school and practice.

Nmesoma Okafor, a defensive end at Campus Magnet High School in Queens, was putting his pads on in the locker room when police hauled him out and said he matched the description of the murder suspect: tall black male in an orange sweatshirt. Okafor told the New York Daily News:

"I'm thinking lifetime in prison for not doing anything. ... They grabbed me (by the arm) and pulled me out the locker room," he continued. "I knew I didn't do anything. ...The detectives came and said, 'That's him, that's him. Cuff him.' "

Coaches immediately told police that Okafor couldn't have been involved in the killing of 13-year-old Kevin Miller because he was at school all day. But he was taken to the 105th Precinct police station anyway, where he was questioned for an hour and held for four more hours before being let go. Police later said they let Okafor go after five hours because his alibi checked out, and on Saturday another suspect was in custody.

It is not clear why it took five hours to clear Okafor even though his coaches immediately said they could vouch for his whereabouts. Okafor's coach, Eric Barnett, said he was angry about his player being nabbed by police. When one of the arresting officers said Okafor fit the suspect's description, Barnett asked, "Don't we all?" he asked. "Tall, black guy in an orange shirt?"