College Basketball

2 prep hoops stars who lived under the same roof — and one charged with killing the other

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:33 p.m. ET

Andre Vergara

Two Dallas-area high school basketball standouts lived under the same roof while pursuing their hoops dreams. Now one is charged with killing the other.

Johnathan Tramaine Turner, the second-leading scorer and top rebounder for state champion Madison High, was arrested at school in the beating death of Troy Causey Jr. of Wilmer-Hutchins High, who'd earned a scholarship to Seminole State College in Oklahoma. Causey lived with Turner and a cousin's family in Oak Cliff.

Causey died in March after allegedly being beaten outside his home by strangers. But Turner and a cousin of Causey's later told police Turner punched Causey, who fell and hit his head, after arguing over a video game. However, police say Causey died from blunt force trauma, and that a witness told them Turner admitted kicking Causey in the head while he was on the ground.

Causey's mom, Tammy Simpson, says she sent her son to live with her extended family to help his hoops career. She now regrets it.

"I thought my son was going to be in great care," Simpson told the Dallas Morning News. "I never thought he was in danger. If I had, he never would've gone over there."

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