Simone Biles Breaks Silence On Brother's Murder Charges: 'My Heart Aches For Everyone Involved'

Simone Biles is clearly struggling with some life-changing family news — and it’s completely understandable.

As we’ve been reporting over the last few days, her brother Tevin Biles-Thomas was arrested late last week in Georgia and charged with a series of crimes — including three counts of murder — over an alleged shootout that took place in Cleveland, Ohio on New Year’s Eve.

Well now, following several days of relative silence after the news broke nationwide, the Olympic hero and five-time medalist is speaking out about her brother’s alleged role in the deaths of three men. The 24-year-old was arrested in Georgia, where he’d been serving in the military, after what authorities say was a remarkably extensive and thorough investigation by homicide detectives up in Cleveland.

The legendary gymnast released an official statement on Monday night through her Twitter account. Obviously, she’s as distraught and confused as you’d expect somebody to be in this unimaginably difficult situation:

Simone Biles statement brother's murder TWitter — “Still having a hard time processing last week’s news,” Biles wrote in a tweet on Monday night (above), before adding in a statement, “My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families. There is nothing that I can say that will heal anyone’s pain, but I do want to express my sincere condolences to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. I ask everyone to please respect my family’s privacy as we deal with our pain. XO” / (c) Simone Biles/Twitter

Wow.

The 22-year-old athlete had been keeping a relatively low profile on social media throughout Labor Day weekend before this statement, though her boyfriend did cryptically post messages seemingly very much in support of the Simone going through a difficult time. And while Biles clearly has leaned on her man in the past, with those social media posts marking a bit of a bright spot, the last few days must have been unbelievably difficult for the family.

We can’t imagine anyone really being prepared for something like this, and it’s understandable the American sports icon would have such a hard time processing the events of last week. As we reported at the time of the charges, Simone and Tevin appeared to be relatively close, especially considering they’d been raised by their grandparents after their mother and father left the family. Knowing their tight bond, that must make this news so much more difficult… ugh.

Our thoughts are with Simone — just as they are with all the victims’ loved ones and family members as they all collectively continue to grapple with this unspeakable tragedy. Such a sad, sad story.

[Image via WENN/Liberty County Sheriff’s Office]