Trial of ex-Penn State football players accused of rape pushed back to June
The trial of two former Penn State football players charged with rape was postponed Thursday at the eleventh hour.
Jameial J. Lyons Jr., 20, of Philadelphia, and Kaveion A. Keys, 20, of Virginia, were set to stand trial starting Monday. They are accused of raping a 17-year-old Penn State student inside their on-campus apartment in July 2024. Lyons is also accused of digitally penetrating a woman the same night.
But during a pretrial hearing Thursday, Centre County Judge Brian Marshall said he was told Wednesday afternoon that Lyons’ defense attorney is in a hospital. Neither the attorney nor Lyons attended the hearing via Zoom.
“We are sort of at a crossroads,” Marshall said.
If the trial were not pushed back, he expressed concern about potential appeal issues. Centre County prosecutors also said they intend to follow through with a consolidated trial of both men at the same time.
Jury selection is scheduled for June 1 and the trial is tentatively set for the week of June 22.
Lyons and Keys were dismissed from the university and the team’s roster by August 2024, about 2 1/2 months before they were charged with felony counts of rape, aggravated indecent assault and sexual assault. Neither landed with another program since their departure.
University police said in an affidavit of probable cause that three females were given alcohol at an off-campus gathering and the on-campus apartment. One of them became intoxicated and passed out, another fell asleep on the couch.
That left the 17-year-old alone with Lyons and Keys, who police said were smoking marijuana. Feeling unwell, she laid on the bed and attempted to sleep, a detective wrote.
But instead, she told police she was forced to perform oral sex and was groped, digitally penetrated and raped by both men. At Keys’ preliminary hearing in December 2024, she testified she attempted to push them off but was unable because of their size.
A former defensive end, Lyons was listed as 6 feet, 5 inches tall and 250 pounds. A former linebacker, Keys was listed as 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 225 pounds.
“I could not move. I could not breathe. I could not see,” she testified at the hearing. She also said she was afraid to scream for help, fearing they would hit her or “do something worse than what was already happening.”
After police said she managed to get away, Lyons allegedly picked her up, carried her outside and dropped her on the ground. The detective said he later found a short video depicting indecent contact on Keys’ cellphone.
One of the women who fell asleep then woke up and went into the bathroom, but police said Lyons led her into his bedroom where he disrobed and digitally penetrated her.
According to the affidavit, Keys denied knowing the 17-year-old and engaging in any sexual contact. Lyons, police wrote, admitted he and Keys had sex with the 17-year-old but expressed a belief it was consensual.
He also said he believed she would “likely report the situation to the police,” the detective wrote. Messages left Wednesday with Lyons’ and Keys’ defense attorneys were not returned by Thursday.
In addition to the felonies, both men are facing a misdemeanor count of indecent assault. Lyons is also charged with a misdemeanor count of invasion of privacy. Each are free on unsecured bail.