NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The family of a woman critically injured in an attack Monday morning on the pedestrian bridge in downtown Nashville wants the suspect’s bond to be revoked.
A review hearing for Nadir Barnwell is set for Wednesday afternoon. The 22-year-old, a former football player at Tennessee Tech and Rutgers University, is charged with attempted criminal homicide.
Metro police reported Barnwell was with the victim on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge just before 3 a.m. Monday when officers were called to the area because the woman needed medical attention.
MORE: Former TTU football player charged with trying to kill woman on pedestrian bridge
Barnwell reportedly told officers the woman was intoxicated and she fell while he was carrying her.
According to an arrest warrant, detectives reviewed surveillance video from the bridge and saw Barnwell grab the woman’s throat and shake her head before releasing her to the ground, where her head bounced off the pavement.
Police said Barnwell eventually called for help.
“He waited 39 minutes to call the police. 39 minutes. It’s a miracle she’s still alive,” the victim’s uncle John Betancourt told News 2. “He told police that he couldn’t remember.”
The victim was admitted to a Nashville hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
Betancourt said his niece suffered a skull fracture, bleeding from her brain and a broken arm.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” Betancourt said of the young woman’s injuries.
Bond for Barnwell was set at $300,000.
“I want to see justice done,” Betancourt said. “We have to send a message. If we don’t send a message because this person is a star, what do we have laws for? Might as well send the young man home and say forget it.”
News 2 is not identifying the woman involved as she is a victim of domestic violence.