UC QB Evans: Racist remarks, confrontation preceded punch

Jarred Evans and his girlfriend, her arm wrapped in his, were walking along a Clifton street as bars were closing when they heard a series of racist remarks from a group of men, Evans testified.

"N----- lover," one of the college-age men said to the couple. Evans is black, his girlfriend is white.

The group – Evans estimated there were three or four men – drew closer, he said Friday during the fourth day of testimony in his trial in Hamilton County Municipal Court. Evans, the UC football team's backup quarterback last year, faces a misdemeanor assault charge in the October 2014 incident.

Evans said he tried to ignore the men as he and his girlfriend walked along Calhoun Street toward his apartment. But the racist remarks continued. He said he felt threatened.

Eventually, Evans responded: "I told them, 'I will (expletive) all of you up if you come after me."

Soon after, he testified, one of the men stood in front of them, blocking their path.

"He flinched at me with his hands up," Evans testified, "and I just reacted with a punch, a jab."

The single punch sent Ryan Smith, a 20-year-old sophomore, face-down to the sidewalk, unconscious.

The trial, which began Monday with jury selection, has featured completely different accounts of the incident. It happened shortly after 2 a.m. as people were streaming out of the bars.

Evans' girlfriend, 22-year-old Jenna Dunlap, testified Friday and also described how a man, who she later learned was Smith, blocked their path. She said she covered her face and didn't see the punch.

"The (next) thing I know, I saw a dude on the ground," Dunlap said. "I had tears in my eyes. I'd never seen anything like this."

Smith testified earlier this week that he didn't say anything to Evans, didn't step into his path, and wasn't with the group of men. In fact, he said he didn't see who threw the punch that knocked him out. He said he woke up in a hospital bed. He suffered a concussion and a cut to his forehead that required a dozen stitches.

Courtney Gravett, who is Dunlap's roommate, said Smith was walking about 10 to 15 feet behind the group. Gravett said she tried to stop Evans from confronting the men. For no obvious reason, she testified, Evans struck Smith, who had his head down and his hands in his pockets.

Evans then fled. On Friday, he said he was scared.

"I was a black man, and there was a white man on the ground," he said. Police arrested him within about 10 minutes.

Dunlap was taken away from the scene by one of Evans' teammates, safety Zach Edwards. Evans, a senior, has been suspended from the team.

Evans denied that he had been drinking that night at Uncle Woody's Pub, where he met up with Dunlap and Gravett. The team arrived in Cincinnati that night after a victory against Southern Methodist University in Texas. Gravett had described how all three drank shots together.

Both Evans and Dunlap disputed Gravett's testimony that they had a disagreement about Evans dancing with other women. Gravett also testified that Dunlap was crying at times.

On Friday, Dunlap said none of that was true.

After leaving the bar, she said, "Jarred and I were talking and laughing, just walking home."

Closing arguments and jury deliberations are expected Monday.