Ex-NBA star off after NBC after being charged with manslaughter

Associated Press WriterFLEMINGTON, N.J. (AP) -- Jayson Williams won't be appearing on NBC's NBA coverage while manslaughter charges are pending against him in the shooting death of a limousine driver at his mansion.

Williams surrendered to state police Monday, nearly two weeks after the death of Costas Christofi. The former NBA star was charged with second-degree manslaughter and freed on $250,000 cash bail. If convicted, he could be sentenced to five to 15 years in prison.

NBC's first comment on his future as an NBA analyst for the network came Tuesday.

"NBC Sports and Jayson Williams have reached mutual agreement that it's best for Jayson to focus on his personal issues and to not be on the air until those issues are resolved," the network said in statement.

This was his first season with NBC. He was next scheduled to appear on the network Sunday.

Acting Hunterdon County Prosecutor Steven C. Lember said Williams was charged with manslaughter because of "the way the weapon was being handled, or mishandled."

"I agree it was tragic and it may even have been an accident. But at base, every reckless manslaughter is an accident," Lember said.

Williams' lawyer, Joseph Hayden, made a brief statement outside the police barracks Monday, but answered no questions.

"The death of Mr. Christofi was a tragic accident, but it was an accident," Hayden said.

He said once the facts come out, "it will be clear that Mr. Williams is innocent of recklessness and innocent of any criminal conduct."

A court appearance is scheduled for Monday. Williams does not have to enter a plea unless a grand jury hands down an indictment, Lember said

Christofi, 55, of Washington Borough, was hired to drive several of Williams' friends from a Bethlehem, Pa., charity event featuring the Harlem Globetrotters to a restaurant, and then to the NBA All-Star's home about 30 miles northwest of Trenton.

After arriving at the Alexandria Township estate, Williams gave his guests a tour of the 40-room mansion, which has a bowling alley, a movie theater and a skeet-shooting range.

Lember said Williams' brother, Vincent, initially reported the shooting as a suicide, but investigators quickly ruled that out. An autopsy later classified it as a homicide. Williams' brother has not been charged.

The prosecutor said some guests were not forthright with investigators early in the investigation, and he planned to have some interviewed again.

Lember would not say whether Williams submitted to alcohol testing, although he acknowledged authorities were looking into it.

The 6-foot-10 Williams was once among the NBA's best rebounders, but leg injuries ended his career and he retired from the New Jersey Nets in 2000.

In his 2000 autobiography, Williams freely admitted past mistakes.

In 1992, he was accused of smashing a beer mug over a patron's head at a Chicago bar. Two years later, he was accused of firing a semiautomatic weapon into the parking lot at the Meadowlands sports complex.

He wrote in his book that he almost shot New York Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet while firing a large handgun on his skeet-shooting range. And Williams faces a hearing this week on a charge that he pushed a police officer last November in a New Jersey bar.