Former NFL Player Travis Rudolph takes the stand in murder trial

By Sooji Nam

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    WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — Former NFL Player Travis Rudolph took to the stand on Monday to give jurors a glimpse of his relationship with Dominique Jones.

“She was beating on me, hitting on me, just what she always do pretty much,” Rudolph said.

He has been charged with shooting at two men and killing one person near his Lake Park family home back in April of 2021.

“She basically said that I did the bare minimum for her on Valentine’s Day. That was like the biggest start of things going downhill,” Rudolph said.

He told the jury he and Jones were not in an official relationship in 2021. They had known each other for about a year, according to the former NFL player.

“Countless times she would break down crying to me, like why you won’t make me your girlfriend?” Rudolph testified. “And I told her it’s no timetable to making her my girlfriend.”

“She said that she paid for everything in your relationship. Is that true?” Rudolph’s attorney asked.

“No, that’s false,” he answered.

He said his relationship with Jones turned sour, as they were not seeing each other as much. He was in Miami working out, and staying with his best friend as he was trying to get back into football professionally.

On April 7, a physical fight between the two began over an argument about another woman. Previous testimonies have explained that Rudolph told her the woman has a better physique than Jones.

Evidence has shown that once she left, Jones sent a text message to her brother, using the phrase “shoot up,” which she clarified was not meant as a literal threat but an emotional outburst.

Later that night, four men showed up to Rudolph’s family home.

Darryl Rudolph, the former NFL player’s brother, testified last week that he was frightened when a fight soon broke out. He said his brother saved his life when he saw two guns pointed at him and his brother.

“I’m not just finna leave my brother down the street with four men, that I know at least one of them have a firearm,” Rudolph said.

He fired 39 rounds and argued he did so out of self-defense.

“Can you now answer whether you started shooting when the car was moving from you?” the state asked.

“That video doesn’t do it justice because I’ve seen another angle where clearly their car was facing towards me. That’s subjective,” Rudolph answered.

“Why are you so far down the area from where you fired? Isn’t it because you were pursuing them?” the state asked.

“No,” he replied.

Rudolph’s mother also took to the stand on Monday.

WPBF 25 News will continue to provide updates on the trial this week.

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