Rice basketball player murdered in College Station

A College Station bar fight early Thursday morning left Jonathan Bailey, a 22-year-old Rice University basketball player, dead and his twin brother Janson hospitalized. Details are still few, but according to police, the Bailey brothers were involved in a fight at the V Bar, a club near the Texas A&M campus. Those involved in the fight were asked to leave the bar and the fight continued outside; that's when police say Jonathan and Janson Bailey were stabbed. They were found at about 1:45 a.m. and were taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan, where Jonathan died and Janson is being treated for multiple stab wounds.

Jonathan Bailey was a transfer from Texas State and a walk-on player for the Owls. As you'd expect, his death shook up the Rice community: "This is obviously a very tragic and painful day for Rice University and our basketball family," basketball coach Willis Wilson said during a press conference yesterday. "Here's a guy who was paying his way through school and going through all the rigors of athletics and that alone is to be commended. But, to do it and want to be there day in and day out — to be there for his teammates and be such a great support to the members of this program, I think says a lot about who John was." Bailey is the fifth Rice student to die this school year and the second student athlete (after freshman Dale Lloyd, who collapsed during football practice in September). "It seems like blow after blow after blow, and we have yet [to] catch our breath," Rice Athletics Director Del Conte told KPRC.

College Station police have arrested Ronald Andrew Johnson Jr., a 22-year-old College Station resident, and charged him with murder, and they say more charges could be coming. Rice officials said they're planning a memorial service for Bailey, but details haven't been finalized.