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Following up on a previous item. ... The Johnson County District Attorney announced he will not file charges in the investigation against Tyreek Hill.

In a Wednesday afternoon news conference, DA Steve Howe said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Hill with a crime.

A crime occurred, Howe said, but investigators could not determine who committed the crime. He declined to comment further and would not say what crime his office thought occurred. State officials will continue to ensure the child is safe, Howe said.

Though he declined to comment further, Howe said the child protection investigation would continue. “The child is safe,” he said.

The criminal investigation is closed for now; however, an active investigation continues regarding the protection of the child, who reportedly was recently removed from the home.

Howe said that his office has not spoken to the NFL or the Chiefs about the situation. He also would not discuss any facts regarding the crime that was committed, citing the sensitivity of the situation given the age of the child.

Howe characterized the situation as a “whodunit,” but that there’s no way to determine who committed the acts. Eventually, Howe acknowledged that someone “hurt this child,” but that it simply can’t be proven who inflicted any injury.

“We want to hold people accountable who hurt children,” Howe said.

While Hill may not have to worry about the prospect of being prosecuted or jailed (for now), he’ll have a separate problem with the NFL.

As the Kansas City Star reported, records obtained earlier this week show that the NFL requested documents from Overland Park Police on March 12 asking for any relevant information, including photos and 911 calls, regarding Hill, his fiancée Crystal Espinal and their young son as “it relates to alleged injuries sustained by the couple’s minor child.”

The investigations involving Hill have raised questions about the wide receiver’s future after the Chiefs confirmed last month that they were aware of the law enforcement probe. Since he was taken by the team in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, Hill has become one of the Chiefs’ -- and the NFL’s -- most high-profile players while seeming to put his domestic violence history behind him.

In December 2014, while a student and football standout at Oklahoma State University, Hill assaulted his then-girlfriend Espinal. She was eight weeks pregnant with their son at the time. Espinal, who started dating Hill in June of that year, told Stillwater police that Hill punched her in the face, put her in a headlock, choked her and struck her in the stomach several times.

Hill was arrested and dismissed from the Oklahoma State football team. He pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation in August 2015 and received three years probation.

As part of the plea agreement, Hill was ordered to complete 52 weeks of domestic violence prevention classes. He also was fined $500 and ordered to pay restitution and court costs.

The conviction was dismissed in August 2018 and ordered to be expunged after he completed his probation requirements.

The investigations involving Hill came amid discussions of a record-breaking contract extension that has been expected to make him among the highest-paid wide receivers.

Because of the past domestic violence conviction, if Hill had been charged he could have been considered a repeat offender by the NFL. As a repeat offender, his punishment from the league could have been more significant than the baseline six-game suspension without pay handed down to a first-time offender.

“Repeat offenders will be subject to enhanced and/or expedited discipline, including banishment from the league with an opportunity to reapply,” the policy reads. “In determining discipline, both aggravating and mitigating factors will be considered.”

So is this case closed?

As Profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio explained, the prosecution won’t occur because both Hill and Espinal can invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refuse to cooperate with the investigation and, ultimately, to testify at trial.

That won’t save Hill from the scrutiny of the NFL, however.

Per Florio, here’s the key language from the Personal Conduct Policy: “Because the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination does not apply in a workplace investigation, the league will reserve the right to compel a player to cooperate in its investigations even when he is the target of a pending law enforcement investigation or proceeding. A player’s refusal to speak to a league investigator under such circumstances will not preclude an investigation from proceeding or discipline from being imposed.”

Given Hill’s history and the age of the child, Florio contends "the NFL should do what the prosecutor couldn’t do. Specifically, the NFL should presume that Hill is guilty, unless and until Hill persuasively convinces the league that he isn’t.

"If he won’t talk to the league, he’s guilty. If he talks to the league but he tells a story that isn’t believable or consistent, he’s guilty. If Espinal tries to take the blame but does so in a way that, given her clear financial interest in protecting Hill, seems flimsy or not credible, he’s guilty."

Indeed, if Hill isn’t guilty he should be committed to bringing to justice whoever injured his child. And it’s fair to assume that Hill and Espinal have circled the wagons to protect each other from potential incarceration."

That's Florio's opinion, it'll be interesting to see if the league office and Commissioner Roger Goodell see it that same way.