Former college football wide receiver Kraig Appleton was charged with first-degree murder over the weekend in connection with the shooting death of a woman, according to a report from the Belleville News-Democrat.
The report states Appleton is being held on a $1 million bond for the murder of Kellie Ferrell.
Ferrell was pronounced dead at Touchette Regional Hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The report also says that police would not be discussing motive or events leading up to the shooting.
Willie Jones, a musician in East St. Louis, says he would keep in touch with Ferrell “off and on” and spoke to the News about her sudden death.
“She had standards at an early age,” Jones said to the paper. “We last waved at each other on Facebook on March 12 of last year. We both didn’t keep in touch all the way. In a Facebook post, she congratulated me on my music success. I told her to ‘let’s keep in touch.’
“When I got this devastating news, I was overwhelmed. Man, she was a nice person.”
Appleton had high expectations when he got to the campus of Wisconsin in 2009, playing right away as a true freshman for the Badgers. He played 10 games this season, catching three passes for a total of 26 yards for a team that went 10-3.
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Appleton would receive an indefinite suspension due to violation of team rules, ultimately withdrawing from the university later that year. He would be involved in a shooting incident in 2011 where he sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
