Baylor's Dotson arrested for murder of Dennehy

[OldTimer]

riend's revelation 'just crushing'

07/22/2003

By ARNOLD HAMILTON / The Dallas Morning News

Betrayed and bewildered.

That's how Patrick Dennehy's mother and girlfriend said they felt Monday night after learning that the missing Baylor basketball player's former teammate and close friend, Carlton Dotson, had been charged with murder in the case.

"This is just ... just crushing," said Mr. Dennehy's girlfriend, Jessica De La Rosa, her voice cracking as she spoke from her Albuquerque, N.M., home. "I hung out with him and Patrick. Patrick was just so concerned about Dotty [Mr. Dotson] and his marriage, when it was going downhill."

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Patrick Dennehy bio

(from baylorbears.com)

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Mr. Dotson had separated from his wife, who lives in Sulphur Springs, 80 miles northeast of Dallas.

Mr. Dennehy's mother, Valorie Brabazon of Carson City, Nev., said: "We got the news, but we still want to hear the words out of his mouth."

"I don't believe this," she said, her voice breaking as she sobbed. "I wanted to hear him tell where he'd put our son. I can't believe he went so long – supposedly my son's very good friend – to do something like this and leave him there and not tell anyone."

On the Baylor campus, athletic director Tom Stanton said the university community was "struggling to find the right words and actions that would ease the pain of everyone connected to Patrick.

"We hope and believe that our thoughts and prayers are helpful. Those thoughts and prayers are constant in these moments. There are no words to describe our grief or our feelings right now."

Mrs. Brabazon said Waco police called her at mid-evening Monday to report that Mr. Dotson had confessed and was charged with her son's murder.

Ms. De La Rosa said she first learned of Mr. Dotson's confession from an out-of-state television producer, then confirmed it minutes later in a phone call to Mr. Dennehy's father, Patrick Sr.

"I just don't get it," said Ms. De La Rosa, a student-athlete at the University of New Mexico, where Mr. Dennehy played before transferring to Baylor. "He [Mr. Dennehy] was mine, and I loved him so much. I just don't understand it."

Staff writer Lee Hancock contributed to this report.

E-mail ahamilton@dallasnews.com