The Rashee Rice lawsuit is a civil case filed on February 16, 2026, in Dallas County, Texas, by his former longtime girlfriend Dacoda Jones, who alleges the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver physically assaulted her repeatedly over an 18-month period. Jones is seeking more than $1 million in damages. Rice denies the allegations, and the NFL closed its own investigation in April 2026 without imposing discipline. The case remains pending.
What Jones Alleges
The petition, filed in the District Court of Dallas County, covers conduct Jones says took place between December 2023 and July 2025 at the couple’s residences in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Victory Park, Dallas.
According to the filing, the abuse began with Rice strangling Jones in December 2023 and continued over the following year and a half. The suit describes a pattern that included choking, pushing, scratching, hitting, headbutting, and striking Jones with objects. It also accuses Rice of throwing property, breaking furniture, punching walls, and locking Jones out of their home at night. Many of the alleged assaults, the petition states, occurred while Jones was pregnant. The couple has two children together and were in a relationship Jones has described as lasting eight years.
Jones is seeking more than $1 million covering physical pain and mental anguish, physical impairment, disfigurement, past and future medical care, and loss of earnings.
The Instagram Posts That Preceded the Suit
The allegations became public on January 7, 2026, about six weeks before the lawsuit was filed. Jones posted graphic images to her Instagram account showing bruising and cuts on her face and body, along with photos of holes in walls and broken fixtures. She did not name Rice directly, identifying the person responsible only as “the father of her children.”
In her captions, Jones wrote that she was “tired of keeping quiet” and “tired of protecting his image,” adding that she had “dealt with abuse for years.” She said the couple had broken up a few months earlier and that the aftermath had been “nothing but hell.”
The Chiefs responded that evening, saying the organization was “aware of the allegations on social media” and was “in communication with the National Football League.”
Rice’s Response and the Non-Prosecution Affidavit
Rice’s attorney, Sean Lindsey, has pointed to a sworn Affidavit for Non-Prosecution that Jones signed on October 9, 2025, roughly three months before her Instagram posts. In that affidavit, according to Lindsey, Jones stated under penalty of perjury: “Mr. Rice and I had a verbal argument, but he did not punch me.”
Lindsey said the legal team would “allow the legal process to run its course” and declined further comment. Rice has not been charged criminally in connection with Jones’s allegations.
The NFL Investigation Closed Without Discipline
The NFL opened a formal investigation under its personal conduct policy after Jones filed the lawsuit. On April 3, 2026, the league announced it had closed the investigation without imposing any discipline. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said there was “insufficient evidence to support a finding that he violated the personal conduct policy.” Lindsey publicly thanked the league for what he called a “thorough investigation.”
The league’s decision resolves only the NFL’s own review. It has no bearing on the civil case, which uses a different standard of proof and is being litigated in state court.
Where the Case Stands
The civil lawsuit remained pending as of mid-2026, with a trial date of June 9, 2026, on the court calendar. Because it is a civil action, Jones would need to prove her claims by a preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt, and any judgment would be monetary. No criminal charges have been filed against Rice arising from these allegations.
Rice’s Other Active Legal Matters
The domestic violence suit is separate from Rice’s better-known criminal case, though the two overlap in time. On March 30, 2024, Rice was driving a rented Lamborghini Urus at 119 miles per hour on North Central Expressway in Dallas when he lost control and caused a chain-reaction crash. He fled the scene on foot.
On July 17, 2025, Rice pleaded guilty to two third-degree felonies: collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury. He received five years of deferred probation and a 30-day jail sentence attached to that probation, and he paid $115,481.91 in restitution before the plea hearing. His criminal defense attorney was Texas State Senator Royce West, who noted that a probation violation could carry up to 10 years in prison.
The crash also produced civil litigation. Two victims settled with Rice for $1 million plus legal fees in July 2025, though the payments were slow to arrive. Attorney Marc Lenahan, who represented victim Kathryn Kuykendall, pursued wage garnishment through the Chiefs’ payroll in Missouri after Rice missed the first installment. By late November 2025, Lenahan confirmed his client had “only recently received her first payment.” A second suit from a woman who said she and her son were on U.S. Highway 75 during the crash was filed in Dallas County in May 2025 and was still pending as of mid-2025, with damages sought between $250,000 and $1 million.
Suspension and Jail Time in 2025 and 2026
On August 27, 2025, the NFL suspended Rice for six games without pay for violating its personal conduct policy in connection with the car crash. He missed the Chiefs’ first six games of the 2025 season and was eligible to return in Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
On May 19, 2026, Rice was taken into custody after testing positive for THC, violating the terms of his deferred probation. Dallas County District Judge Ernest White ordered him to begin serving his 30-day jail sentence immediately and modified his probation to require monthly urinalysis testing. His scheduled release date was June 16, 2026. The jail time forced him to miss the Chiefs’ organized team activities and mandatory minicamp, and it complicated his recovery from a knee “cleanup” surgery performed the week before, because he could not access NFL rehabilitation facilities while incarcerated.