MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Sharon Byrd still lights up at the mention of her son’s name.

“He has his Heisman trophies right here,” Byrd said. “So this is a young man that had a future and once that accident happened, everything went away.”

Demetrius Byrd, once a standout football player at Miami Central who helped lead LSU to a national championship in 2005, is now in jail, accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Byrd’s mother blames a head injury from a car crash, just before he was set to be drafted into the NFL, for triggering mental illness.

“Everybody is against him, everybody wants to hurt my son, in his mind,” Byrd said. “Everyone wants to hurt him.”

Byrd, 40, appeared before a judge Tuesday to answer to the charge.

“He had a silver multi-tool in his right pocket,” the judge said.

Police said it was on Monday when the 40-year-old was on a Miami-Dade Transit bus in Miami Beach, causing a disruption near Abbot Avenue and Island Creek Drive.

They said a male passenger tried to calm Byrd down, but that only escalated the confrontation.

“He opened his multi-tool to a blade and asked the victim if he wanted to die and walked towards him with a blade in his hand,” the judge said.

The bus driver called police, which led to Byrd’s arrest.

“My son don’t need jail, he needs help mentally,” Byrd’s mother said.

Despite her plea for help, Byrd’s mother said she is not giving up on her son.

“There’s nothing vicious about him and anyone who knows him will tell you that. That’s not my son,” she said.

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.