Why Was Texans LB Neville Hewitt’s Mother, Deon Jones, Incarcerated in 2008?

Deon Jones, the mother of Texans linebacker Neville Hewitt, was incarcerated in 2008 due to her involvement in a drug trafficking case. She was subsequently deported to Jamaica in 2017.

She was deported after serving nine years in a Georgia prison following being caught as a passenger in a car that had “40 grams of cocaine and some Marijuana in the trunk.” Hewitt was only 14 and just starting with the football team at his high school in Conyers, Georgia. He only learned of the arrest when he did not see her after a game.

Hewitt now uses that hurt and struggle to help children who are going through what he went through. The linebacker has used the Week 13 and Week 14 games for the past two years, to highlight the “Freedom Child Foundation” through ‘My cause, my cleats.’

His cleats feature the name of the organization, as well as his mother. The Foundation offers support and resources to youth aged 5 to 17 who have one or both parents incarcerated.

By facilitating family connections through phone calls, letter writing, and visits, the foundation helps these adolescents maintain a relationship with their incarcerated parents.

Hewitt revealed to Fox 26 Sports Director Will Kunkel that this December, he and the foundation will be partnering with Target to bring gifts to children in the program.

Jones now has a temporary green card, according to Hewitt, but her legal status is still unclear.