Terrell Owens pays up child support to his baby mama
Former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens has already paid the child support he owes to the mother of his seven-year-old daughter — making him avoid the threat of spending time behind prison bars.
According to the court documents, 38-year-old Owens appeared in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Thursday. Last week, the former football player failed to make an appearance for a court date in his child support case. The lawyer of Terrell Owens and a lawyer of his baby mama, Melanie Smith, had already come to an agreement before the hearing and signed it in front of the judge. Terrell Owens made the back payments in child support that he owes to Smith, and he also agreed to shoulder her legal fees.
“We’re pleased. It’s too bad it took this long,” Randy Kessler, the lawyer of Melanie Smith said after the agreement was signed. “If he’s not going to be there physically, he needs to be there financially.”
Terrell Owens left the court premises without talking to the reporters. A lawyer for the football star didn’t respond immediately to an email seeking comment.
The previous agreement requires Terrell Owens to pay Melanie Smith $5,000 a month. This was said to be the third case Smith has brought against the football star for not paying child support. In his previous cases, the former NFL player has settled and paid up child support even before the cases went to court, but then he failed to make successive payments.
Kessler added that his client, Melanie Smith, who lives in northwest Georgia, is happy to have the signed agreement, but would want Owens to be more involved in the life of their daughter.
“What she really wants is for him to have a relationship with his child,” Kessler said. Smith, who also made an appearance in court Thursday, said that her daughter has seen Terrell Owens about eight to ten times.
The football player has raised the possibility of lowering his monthly child support payments since he is no longer making an NFL salary. Kessler said that Smith is willing to discuss the matter.
Terrell Owens, who is known as T.O., played 15 years in the National Football League, most recently for the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2010 season. Before his single season with the Bengals, Owens played for the Buffalo Bills for one season, two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, and eight seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.