Ex-NFL Player Kevin Ware Jr. Pleads Guilty, Accepts 30 Years for 2021 Murder of Girlfriend Taylor Pomaski: Reports

Former NFL player Kevin Ware Jr. has pleaded guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Taylor Pomaski, according to local news outlets.

Ware agreed to take a plea deal in court on Wednesday, May 7 — just days ahead of jury selection for his trial — and accepted 30 years in prison for murder and tampering with evidence, “specifically a corpse” in the 2021 death of Pomaski, according to KPRC-TV, KRIV-TV and the Houston Chronicle.

After prosecutors offered Ware a plea deal in court, Judge Brian Warren pressed Ware for a decision, saying, “I’m going to play football with you right now,”  per the Houston Chronicle. He warned the former football tight end that the plea deal would expire, and if the trial went ahead, Ware could face life in prison.

Ware reportedly said he would “think about” the offer before leaving to discuss the plea deal with his attorneys. After about 20 minutes, he returned to the court and accepted the deal, per the outlet.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office and Ware’s attorney, Neal Davis III, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The former Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers player was indicted by a grand jury in Harris County, Texas in July 2022 on murder and tampering charges in connection with Pomanski’s death, more than a year after she disappeared.

29-year-old Pomaski was last seen at a party at her home in Spring, Texas, on April 25, 2021. 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. The remains were identified as Pomaski at the end of April 2022.

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Prior to her disappearance, Ware was arrested in Harris County 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 on April 20, 2021 — five days before Pomaski vanished. He eventually took a plea deal and was given a 15-year concurrent sentence for both of those previous charges.

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According to charging papers obtained by the Houston Chronicle, Ware 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.

In court records also obtained by the outlet, a woman alleged to investigators that Ware told her he cut Pomaski’s throat and burned her body, and even took a photo of the fire on his phone at the time.

Ware will carry out his prison sentence for Pomaski’s death concurrently with his sentence for his drug and weapons charges, per the Houston Chronicle, which added that his formal sentencing is scheduled for Friday, May 9.

Ware’s NFL career was short-lived. After playing college football at the University of Washington, he spent parts of the 2003 and 2004 NFL seasons with Washington and San Francisco, respectively. He only ever appeared in 16 NFL games, according to Pro Football Reference.