Florida St. QB Francois cleared in domestic violence probe

Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois was cleared by police in an alleged domestic violence incident, multiple media outlets reported Thursday.

Francois was involved in a domestic dispute with his pregnant girlfriend late Tuesday afternoon. But Francois and the woman gave very different accounts of what took place in their statements to the Tallahassee Police Department following the incident at Francois' apartment.

Another Florida State football player, Zaquandre White, also was present and spoke to police.

Police were called to the scene but an investigation Wednesday evening resulted in no arrests and no charges being filed, because of "conflicting statements and lack of independent witnesses," according to the police.

State Attorney Jack Campbell told the Orlando Sentinel on Wednesday that Francois will not be charged based on the Tallahassee Police Department's investigation.

"Based on the evidence as we understand it and with the conclusions made by the Tallahassee Police Department, I'm in agreement with TPD with insufficient evidence to charge Deondre Francois," Campbell told the Orlando Sentinel.

Francois, who called the police, said the woman began to break items in the house and attempted to rip a television off the wall, according to the police report.

She told authorities that he broke down a bedroom door, threw her to the ground and tried to get her to leave the apartment.

Francois said he grabbed the women in a hug to prevent her from breaking things, and that a cut she sustained on her arm was the result of a broken vase.

The woman told police she is nine weeks pregnant and said she did not want Francois to get in "trouble, trouble."

But she did want the police to speak with Francois to "scare him a little," according to the report.

The woman asked police if Francois would get in trouble for smoking marijuana at the apartment before the incident.

The woman did not want to press charges against Francois, according to the report.

Neither the school nor new coach Willie Taggart has commented on the incident.

Francois started every game in 2016 as a redshirt freshman, throwing for 3,350 yards and leading the Seminoles to a 10-3 record. With even higher expectations for him and the team going in 2017, he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener against Alabama as FSU struggled to a 7-6 mark.

Francois is expected to compete with sophomore James Blackman for the starting quarterback spot for the 2018 season.