Crime

Former NFL player Phillip Adams -- who slaughtered 6 people before taking his own life -- had a severe case of CTE when he went on a violent rampage, according to a neuropathologist.

Ann McKee, a top brain doc who runs the CTE Center at Boston University -- the nation's premier facility when it comes to examining brains -- released her findings after thoroughly examining Adams' brain.

Adams was suffering from stage 2 CTE, considered a "severe" case, because it was found in both frontal lobes of his brain.

In fact, Dr. McKee said Adams' case of CTE was similar to Aaron Hernandez's ... who was convicted of murder in 2015, and like the defensive back, also took his own life.

Adams went on a killing spree in York County, South Carolina in April, brutally murdering a prominent area doctor, his wife, two grandkids (5 & 9-years-old), and two people working on the family home.

Adams then took his own life a short time later.

In light of the horrific incident, Adams' family agreed to send his brain to Boston U.

FYI, "Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is the term used to describe brain degeneration likely caused by repeated head traumas. CTE is a diagnosis made only at autopsy by studying sections of the brain," according to the Mayo Clinic.

At the time of the shooting, Phillip's sister told USA Today her brother was struggling with mental health issues, but said her brother "wasn't a monster."

Dr. McKee's findings likely finally explain the bizarre and violent behavior.

Adams was a 7th-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers out of South Carolina State. He played 6 seasons in the league ... for the 49ers, Patriots, Seahawks, Raiders, Jets and Falcons.

A train ride in New York turned violent for one woman, who got a hand to the face after getting into an argument with an alleged creep ... a guy NYPD's now trying to find.

The incident went down on a Brooklyn-bound subway line early Friday ... and as you can see in the video ... the man and woman were really going at it. The woman was seated and yelling at the guy who was standing over her and shouting back, "It's none of your business."

At one point, things escalate physically, with the guy smacking her right in the face ... and she lets out a scream.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... someone on the train reported this to cops shortly after it happened, and the victim suffered minor injuries and a pair of broken glasses. The man in question had fled by the time officers arrived.

As to what led up to this, we're told the woman allegedly saw the guy taking photos of women onboard, and she decided to do the same to him ... which apparently pissed him off.

Jim Bob Duggar's likelihood of winning a state senate race in Arkansas just went down, drastically, due to his son's conviction ... this according to another member of the Duggar fam.

Derick Dillard -- who's married to JBD's daughter and Josh's sister, Jill -- tells TMZ ... Josh's guilty verdict in his child porn trial puts his father-in-law in a tough spot politically, and not just because of the obvious association to his son ... but because of public past stances he's taken on sex crimes. In Derick's eyes, Jim Bob's track record won't help.

Take, for example, a policy JBD proposed on a now-defunct site of his when he ran for U.S. Senate in '02, which talked about what should happen to somebody who rapes a woman. As you can see, he called for executing the perpetrator and keeping the baby alive.

It's not apples to apples, comparing that to what Josh's conviction for possessing a ton of child pornography -- but in Derick's eyes, it makes Jim Bob look hypocritical ... because he doesn't think his father-in-law would take as hard a stance now, in light of what's happening to his own flesh and blood.

More relative to Josh's situation is a bill JBD helped sponsor in 2001 -- when he was in the state's House of Reps. -- calling for widening the categories of sex offenses to include "pandering or possessing visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child." Derick believes Jim Bob will get grilled on the campaign trail for that one.

Big picture ... Derick says Jim Bob's come across as less than transparent or credible due to vague statements he made while Josh was under investigation.

Of course, Derick's hardly a JBD fan to begin with. As you know, he and Jill have distanced themselves from the famous fam since 2017 ... when Derick accused his father-in-law of screwing his kids out of money.

Still, DD admits Jim Bob could gut out a victory, due to his TV fame and name recognition/wealth -- all of which could help him get past the PR nightmare of Josh.

After a 5-year battle, the hundreds of gymnasts who were victims of Larry Nassar's incessant sexual abuse have reached a $380 million agreement to settle their lawsuits against USA Gymnastics and the USA Olympic Committee.

MSU settled with 332 female athletes back in 2018 for $500 million ... and on Monday, USA Gymnastics and the USOPC raised the total amount to $880 million, the highest settlement amount for a single perpetrator in a sexual assault case, according to ESPN.

"This settlement is the result of the bravery of hundreds of survivors who, despite legal obstacles, long odds and the best corporate legal talent money can buy, refused to be silent," the gymnasts' attorney John Manly told the outlet. "The power of their story eventually won the day."

Along with the money, as part of the settlement, USA Gymnastics and the USOPC have vowed to make huge changes within the organizations to ensure the safety and betterment of the athletes.

Some of Team USA's biggest stars have spoken out about Nassar ... including Simone Biles, who claimed his abuse may have triggered her mental health struggles during the 2020 Olympics.

Zac Stacy told cops the brutal attack on his ex was all "staged" ... claiming the woman set him up because she was "bitter" he didn't want to be with her.

The former NFL running back's conversation with officers was all captured on police video, obtained by TMZ Sports, just days after he ruthlessly beat his ex at her Florida home.

In the arrest footage, Stacy can be heard speaking with Orlando Police Dept. officers for several minutes about the events that led up to the Nov. 13 altercation ... insisting it all "was staged."

"It's just a case of just bitterness, man," Stacy told the policemen. "That's why she did this. The whole assault thing, she staged it. She set me up."

Stacy continued, "The whole thing was staged. All she's trying to do is get money out of me. She got a reaction out of me."

Stacy explained that he believes his ex -- the mother of his months-old son -- was upset with him because he didn't want to continue a romantic relationship with her.

The former St. Louis Rams and New York Jets player told officers the woman knew he wasn't in a good place mentally (he said he had just gotten out of rehab for anxiety and depression), and she used that to get "a reaction out of me."

"She knew I was down, she knew I was going through anxiety and depression," Stacy said. "She knew I was trying to close this gap that's between me and my son and she's just upset that she got caught and she's upset I'm not taking care of him like she expected. And now she took it this far."

Stacy added, "This is just a case of just girl is just bitter that I don't want to be with her and she's just trying to destroy my whole reputation 'cause of this s***."

Stacy then told the officers he knew his actions were "f***ed up."

"I don't know what man -- how any man could have handled that situation," Stacy said.

The 30-year-old was eventually taken to a local police station and booked on charges of felony aggravated battery and felony criminal mischief.

Stacy is currently out on bond.

Kylie Jenner almost got a surprise marriage proposal, but cops intervened before an obsessed fan could pop the question.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... they were called to Kylie's neighborhood Thursday for a report of a man who had hopped a fence and knocked on a door looking for Jenner. Only problem? The guy had the wrong house and was at Kylie's neighbor's place.

Cops spoke to the 23-year-old man -- armed with flowers -- who told them he was there to profess his love for Kylie, and ask for her hand in marriage.

Obviously, the whole thing didn't fly with police -- who arrested the guy for misdemeanor trespassing -- and took him in for booking.

Rey Maualuga -- the ex-NFL star accused of driving drunk and crashing his car through a neighborhood earlier this year -- officially has a trial date set for April, TMZ Sports has learned.

The ex-Cincinnati Bengals linebacker is facing two felony charges as well as one misdemeanor ... and, according to a spokesperson for Kenton County, Kentucky prosecutors, he could be locked behind bars for up to 10 years if he's convicted on all counts.

We broke the story, Maualuga was arrested on Aug. 11 in Villa Hills, Kentucky after cops say he drunkenly drove his vehicle through mailboxes and front yards before ultimately crushing into a parked car and a tree.

In police documents, cops say when they questioned the former USC star at the scene, he was "sweating profusely" and admitted to drinking "a few" alcoholic beverages before driving.

Maualuga was ultimately charged with felony first degree wanton endangerment, felony first degree criminal mischief, and misdemeanor DUI -- third offense. His trial has been officially scheduled for April 6, 2022.

Of course, this is far from the first time Maualuga has faced time behind bars -- the 34-year-old has been arrested for DUI two times previously.

He was also arrested in 2017 for allegedly attacking an employee at a Miami nightclub while he was a member of the Dolphins.

Josh Duggar isn't the only person in the family experiencing legal issues, his sister, Jana, has been charged as well ... TMZ has learned.

Jana's been charged with endangering the welfare of a minor, a court clerk confirms to TMZ. The circumstances surrounding the charge are still unknown, but we're told Jana -- the oldest daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle -- was cited on September 9, 2021 ... she'll be back in court next month.

As we reported on Josh, the former "19 Kids and Counting" was charged with one count each of receiving and possessing child pornography ... one of the images was allegedly of a child younger than 12.

Josh was immediately taken into custody, though his legal team says they'll appeal the decision.

Cops in and around L.A. are beefing up patrol and bracing themselves for possible gang retaliation killings in the wake of Slim 400's murder and a growing gang war in the city.

Law enforcement sources tell us that while they don't believe Slim was a targeted hit, they still think the killing was gang-related ... which almost always means revenge. Our sources say they believe Slim happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and his alleged ties to the Bloods didn't help.

We're told lately things have really ramped up between the Bloods and the Crips, so tensions are already high, and Slim's murder likely won't help that.

We're told the Inglewood Police Dept. will have a heavy and visible presence around the place of Slim's killing in hopes to discourage it from happening again to someone else.

As we reported, footage of the killing surfaced online Thursday showing the brazen attack. Slim's murderer walked up a driveway, pulled his gun and opened fire several times ... killing the rapper.

The jury didn't buy Jussie Smollett's claim he was the victim of a racist-homophobic attack, but the leaders of Black Lives Matter certainly do ... and the org. is sticking by the actor.

BLM and BLM LA released a statement before the verdict, in support of the "Empire" actor, saying ... "So let’s be clear: we love everybody in our community ... we can never believe police, especially the CPD over Jussie Smollett, a Black man who has been courageously present, visible, and vocal in the struggle for Black freedom."

Now, after Jussie's been found guilty, BLM LA leader Melina Abdullah tells us that stance hasn't changed -- Jussie has their full support. Abdula says the organization refuses to abandon its people and stands on the principle that the justice system is corrupt.

Smollett's former "Empire" costar, Bryshere Gray, is standing by his friend as well, telling us, "My prayers, love and support is unwavering for my brother Jussie and the Smollet Family."

Smollett was found guilty Thursday on 5 of 6 felony counts of lying to Chicago PD.

From the jump, Jussie denied claims he staged the 2019 attack ... sticking to his story when he reported it to police with the rope still around his neck.

Jussie now faces a possible 3-year prison sentence, but considering he has no prior criminal record ... it's unclear if he'll get any time behind bars.

Travis Scott says he broke his silence to start a healing process with his fans, and the families of Astroworld victims -- but an attorney for one of those families says the rapper's words did nothing to ease their pain.

23-year-old Rudy Peña was one of the 10 attendees who lost their lives last month at the festival show, and his family has since declined to accept money from Travis for funeral costs. They've also filed a lawsuit against Scott and others.

We spoke with Valerie Cortinas Fisher, the Peña family's attorney, who says the nearly-hour-long interview was painful for them to watch ... and certainly didn't start any healing for them.

Fisher says Travis' history of inciting crowds to go crazy needs to be taken into consideration when determining how responsible he is for what happened.

During the interview with Charlamagne tha God, Travis was questioned about the "rage" culture at his shows. He explained he's grown over the years, and now urges fans to "rage" by having a good time and letting loose, not by being destructive.

We had Travis' attorney, Ed McPherson, on TMZ Live Thursday ... and he said Travis insisted on speaking to Charalamagne -- despite legal risks -- to show he really cared.

Still, not everyone's buying that. Fisher says the pain is still very deep for the Peña family.

Jussie Smollett is guilty of lying to Chicago cops, and the world, about being the victim of a racist and homophobic attack, according to the jury -- or said more simply ... it was all a hoax.

Jurors found the "Empire" actor guilty of 5 of the 6 felony counts against him, and he stood stone-faced in court as the verdicts were read. Jussie was facing disorderly conduct charges for allegedly providing a false report to police ... with prosecutors ringing him up for each time he did it.

The first 5 counts were for lying on Jan. 29, 2019 to cops -- that's the night of the staged attack. The 6th, of which he was found not guilty, was for a separate interview with Chicago PD on Feb. 14 when he told a detective he was a victim of aggravated burglary.

The verdicts finally put the criminal side of this saga to bed. Jussie had maintained his innocence for years, insisting he did not hire brothers, Abel and Ola Osundairo to stage the racist and homophobic attack in the middle of a bitterly frigid Chicago night.

The brothers watched the guilty verdict announcement from an overflow room in the Chicago courthouse.

Now that Jussie's been found guilty he'll almost certainly have to pay restitution to Chicago in the amount of $130k -- the amount the city says it dropped on investigating the hoax attack.

During the trial, defense attorneys took the calculated risk of having Jussie testify ... something criminal defendants rarely do. While on the stand, he gave his blow-by-blow account of what happened during the attack ... explaining he'd gone out at 2 AM to buy eggs because the Osundairo bros. -- who he'd hired as personal trainers -- told him he needed protein.

Most importantly, his testimony aimed to poke holes in the Osundairos' credibility. For instance, he detailed sexual encounters he claims to have had with Bola ... even though Bola had stated the exact opposite under oath -- that they had NO sexual relation.

The brothers also testified Jussie paid them to buy supplies and provided instructions on where to meet him to carry out the "attack." In the end, the trial boiled down to a he said/he said, and obviously, the jury wasn't swayed by a celeb on the stand.

You'll recall ... Jussie initially claimed 2 white males jumped him, hurled slurs at him, punched him, threw a noose around his neck ... all while screaming, "This is MAGA country!!!"

He reported the alleged crime to police ... greeting them at his home with the rope still wrapped around his neck. Soon, doubts started to surface about Jussie's story -- and eventually, the police came out and claimed the guy had made the whole thing up.

Jussie denied that, but he was ultimately charged in connection to the alleged lie ... but, stunningly, those whopping 16 charges were dismissed -- with Jussie only having to forfeit his $10k bond as punishment. After much uproar, a special prosecutor was appointed, and he charged Jussie anew ... this time only charging with 6 counts.

There was also the issue of whether the Osundairo brothers were actually Jussie's drug dealers or not -- the bros claimed they weren't (that they were simply suppliers) but Jussie's team argued they were far more than just that ... seemingly trying to ding their credibility.

Despite Jussie testifying there was "no hoax" ... the jury wasn't buying it. He now faces a possible 3-year prison sentence, but it remains to be seen if he'll actually do any time behind bars. Keep in mind, he has no prior criminal record.

He was not taken into custody, and will remain free pending sentencing.

The City of Chicago had sued Jussie over lost resources in investigating his claims, but if he has to pay back that dough as part of his sentence ... that civil suit would be moot.

Sheriff Brent Lynch -- the top law enforcement official in Owsley County, KY -- was arrested for assault on Thursday after allegedly striking a teenage girl while coaching a girls basketball game.

The incident -- which was captured on camera -- went down in Perry County, KY last Friday. Lynch, a coach for Owsley County, dashed onto the court after players on both teams started fighting.

Lynch is accused of hitting a girl in the face ... and has been charged with 4th-degree assault. The charge carries up to 1 year in jail and a fine, if convicted.

He is currently behind bars in Three Forks Regional Jail ... after he was arrested by his own officers this morning.

The Sherriff -- who assumed office in January 2019 -- is listed as 6', 190 lbs. on his booking sheet. He was booked at 9:59 AM. Prior to serving in his current role, Lynch was a Kentucky State Police officer.

FYI, Owsley is a small county with a population of around 4,000 people in eastern Kentucky.

Josh Duggar was just found guilty on both counts by a jury in his child pornography trial ... TMZ has confirmed.

The "19 Kids and Counting" star was charged with one count each of receiving and possessing child pornography. Prosecutors claimed some of those images included minors below the age of 12.

Duggar's legal team of Justin Gelfand, Ian Murphy and Travis Story tell us, "We appreciate the jury’s lengthy deliberations, we respect the jury’s verdict, and we intend to appeal.”

Duggar was taken into federal custody, a sentencing date has not yet been set.

On November 19, the feds raided his office at the car dealership where Duggar worked in Arkansas ... DHS agents seized his computer plus his iPhone and a MacBook from inside an RV.

The two-week-long trial included testimony from digital forensic analysts along with other witnesses. One family friend claimed the former reality star confessed to molesting children in a tearful testimony on the witness stand.

Josh mainly sat with his head down during the trial, and now he will await his sentence.

He faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.

Slim 400 -- an up-and-coming rapper in the California hip-hop scene -- has been shot and killed in L.A. ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Slim was gunned down Wednesday night in Inglewood. It's currently unclear what led to the shooting and how many suspects were involved.

Born to military parents in Germany, Slim moved back to Los Angeles as a young child and was raised in Compton. The rapper was later discovered and signed by the now nonexistent Pu$haz Ink music label -- the same one made popular by YG and DJ Mustard.

Slim narrowly escaped death back in the summer of 2019 when he was shot 9 times in L.A. Slim claimed he was ambushed in the attack while visiting family in Compton.

Slim 400 was just 33.

RIP

Nicki Minaj is calling the woman accusing her and her husband of harassment a bold-faced liar -- claiming there are holes in her story that NM and co. believe totally discredit her.

The rapper's attorney filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, responding to Jennifer Hough's lawsuit from August -- where she claimed Nicki, Kenneth Petty and a gaggle of lawyers were on her case ... trying to get her to recant her attempted rape claim against Ken ... which she made in the '90s and for which KP was convicted.

Long story short ... Nicki's legal team is calling BS on Hough's allegations, going so far as to ask the court to sanction her for what they say are blatant falsehoods, which they think she hurled in an attempt to score a payday from Nicki.

The crux of their argument lies in a couple different inconsistencies they say lie within Hough's account of things -- namely, her claiming she had to change her phone number due to the alleged harassment she was receiving from Nicki, plus the claim Nicki's team had reached out to her brother with a $500k offer if she recanted in a written statement.

On the phone issue ..,. Nicki's attorney says Hough actually texted Nicki after claiming she needed to change her number and move back in June 2020 to block Nicki and her people from contacting her. Nicki says the text read "US Marshalls are asking questions!!!" The lawyer draws a conclusion from this -- Hough wasn't actually trying to hide her number from Nicki at all (contrary to what she alleges). Nicki's team thinks it makes it clear she wasn't scared and is just looking for a payday.

There's also the issue of an interview Hough gave earlier this year, which the attorney says differs from what she alleged in court docs. In the interview, NM's lawyer says Hough noted her brother told her somebody had reached out with a $500k offer if she talked to a lawyer repping Petty. NM's lawyer said the allegation in the lawsuit that Nicki was behind the offer is merely speculation that gave her a reason to try to sue Nicki.