San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback CJ Beathard on Friday paid tribute to his late younger brother Clayton and posted a heartfelt message of thanks on Instagram to people for their condolences a week after his fatal stabbing.
Clay Beathard and 21-year-old Paul Trapeni III were stabbed to death and another person was wounded outside a Nashville bar during a fight over a woman last Saturday.
Michael Mosley, 23, was arrested after a four-day manhunt. He is the prime suspect in the stabbings.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback CJ Beathard (left) paid tribute to his slain brother, Clayton (right), in a lengthy Instagram post on Friday
‘It truly is unbelievable all of the support and friends we have,’ CJ Beathard wrote in the Instagram post on Friday. ‘I love each every one of you. Thank y’all so much’
From left: Clayton Beathard; country music singer-songwriter Tucker Beathard; and CJ Beathard
In his Instagram post on Saturday, CJ Beathard (center) said his late brother (right) and Tucker (left) ‘are and forever will be my best friends.’
The Beathard brothers are seen above in this undated file photo. From left: Tucker, Clayton, and CJ
‘It’s hard to even know where to start for something like this, but I guess first I just want to say a can’t tell you how thankful and blessed me and my family are for all of the people that have reached out and prayers we have received since by brother went to heaven,’ CJ Beathard wrote on Saturday.
‘It truly is unbelievable all of the support and friends we have. I love each every one of you. Thank y’all so much.’
Beathard praised his late brother, who he said ‘has the biggest heart of anyone that I have ever known.’
He wrote: ‘Anyone that knows him knows this, he would do absolutely anything for the people he loves.
‘He is the most loyal guy that I have ever known in my life and has always been so dang proud of my family and I.
‘It sounds so cliche but Clay is the best example of a dude that lights up every room he walks into whether its with his loud contagious laugh or just the smile on his face.
‘Anyone that knows him would tell you the same.
‘He also has the weirdest ways of making unforgettable relationships with literally everyone he meets.
‘Clay is the sweetest, most humble, toughest, and kind hearted people this world had in it, but he was called home and now has none of the pains and stresses only this world could give.’
Paul Trapeni III (left), 21, died in hospital after suffering stab wounds to his side. Another victim, Alvin Bethurum, 21, is recovering from injuries to his arm and eye
CJ Beathard is also the brother of Tucker Beathard, a 24-year-old country music singer and songwriter.
Their father is Casey Beathard, himself a successful, award-winning songwriter.
Casey Beathard is the son of Bobby Beathard, a longtime successful former NFL executive who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
In his Instagram post on Saturday, CJ Beathard said his late brother and Tucker ‘are and forever will be my best friends.’
He continued: ‘We grew up doing everything together going all the way back to my mom sitting us three down at the kitchen table everyday and homeschooling us.’
Michael Mosley, 23, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in Ashland City, Tennessee
Police surrounded a vacant home on Christmas Day where Michael Mosley was holed up and ultimately surrendered
Police said Mosley is a ‘violent criminal’ who had been convicted of several crimes in the past. He is pictured right in a new mugshot taken on the day of his arrest
CJ Beathard ended his post by writing: ‘I just know Clay is looking at us grieving down here right now saying “stay strong” “I’m doing great up here” and “I will see you soon”.
‘What happened is absolutely awful and has been and will continue to be the hardest things my family and I have had to go through.
‘But I can find some peace knowing that he is at peace in heaven right now, and I know without a doubt God will bring a whole bunch of good out of this.’
On Christmas Day, authorities arrested Mosley in connection with the fatal stabbing.
Mosley is alleged to have stabbed to death Clayton Beathard and Paul Trapeni after a fight outside Dogwood Bar in Nashville on Saturday, December 21.
The men were reportedly involved in an argument over a woman that escalated and turned violent.
A third victim, Alvin Jefferson Bethurum, 21, suffered injuries to his eye and arm and is continuing the recover, authorities said.
Mosley evaded police for four days and was found on Christmas Day alone in a vacant home when police surrounded and moved in before he surrendered, Nashville Police said.
Police said Mosley has a violent criminal past.
‘He is a convicted felon, convicted of violent crimes,’ Don Aaron, spokesman for the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department, told ABC News.
The stabbings on Saturday night ‘appear to have resulted from an argument over a woman that began inside Dogwood Bar and then turned physical when the parties went outside’, police said.
During the attack, Beathard and Paul Trapeni both suffered stab wounds to their sides and both taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center where they were pronounced dead.
The third victim, Bethurum, is still recovering from his injuries.
At the time of the deadly altercation, police said Mosley was free on $5,000 bond for attacking a 37-year-old woman at a Walmart in December 2018.
Nashville cops said Mosley’s criminal past included squirting urine from a shampoo bottle at a employee of a Davidson County jail facility on Christmas Day 2015.
In December 2017, he was sentenced to concurrent three-and-a-half year terms for stabbing a man and cutting a woman.
The 49ers released a statement saying that they were shocked and deeply saddened to hear about the tragedy.
‘We extend our heartfelt sympathies to C.J and the entire Beathard family as they cope with the unthinkable loss of a loved one. C.J has traveled home to join his family knowing he has the support of our entire organization as they grieve the passing of Clayton.’
Beathard was a student at Long Island University, where he played quarterback on its football team.
In a statement on its Facebook page, LIU Athletics paid tribute to him, saying: ‘LIU community mourns the loss of our student, athlete, friend, and leader.’
Hours after the stabbing, the 49ers defeated the Los Angeles Rams in dramatic fashion, 34-31, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
When CJ Beathard learned his younger brother was fatally stabbed, he left town to be with his family and was forced to miss the game.
But before he left, the football star gave his head coach Kyle Shanahan one last message: ‘You make sure the guys go win this game.’
The brother of one murder victim is a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers