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Video shows 5-star Miss. St. signee allegedly hitting woman (Update)

Sam Cooper
College football writer

Update: March 28 - 3:20 p.m. ET

Mississippi State signee Jeffery Simmons will face charges.

A video obtained by WCBI-TV showed a man, later confirmed by several outlets to be Simmons, punching a woman several times while she was laying on the street. WCBI reported Monday that Macon, Miss., police will charge Simmons with disturbing the peace.

The incident is said to have occurred last Thursday at around 6:30 p.m. In addition to Simmons, four others will also be charged, The Dispatch reported Monday.

From The Dispatch:

Lucious Mason, the chief of police in Macon, told The Dispatch this afternoon that Simmons and four others are in the process of being charged following a fight Thursday about 6:30 p.m. at Mayfair Apartments.

In addition to Simmons, the following people are also being charged with disturbing the peace: Brenda Bradley, Keith McCloug, Ashley Bradley and Sophia Taylor.

Taylor is the woman Simmons is accused of hitting. Mason said she is in the process of filing a simple assault affidavit against Simmons.

Simmons, a five-star defensive lineman, apologized in a lengthy Facebook post which can be read below.

"We are aware of the situation. As more details become available, we will continue to evaluate the situation,” a Mississippi State spokesman told The Clarion-Ledger.

ESPN.com spoke with the alleged victim's mother, who detailed the circumstances leading up to the incident.

- - - Original post - March 27 2:45 p.m. ET - - -

A video obtained by WCBI-TV in Mississippi allegedly shows Mississippi State signee Jeffery Simmons punching a woman.

The video shows a man purported to be Simmons, along with another person, punching a woman several times while she was lying on the ground. According to an apology reportedly posted to Facebook by Simmons, the assault was in response to comments made about a deceased family member.

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“I take full responsibility for my actions. What was I thinking? Honestly, I wasn’t thinking, all I could think was this is my family and I am supposed to defend my family,” Simmons wrote.

Here is Simmons’ full apology:

WCBI-TV is reporting that police in Macon, Miss., “is aware of the incident,” but have not commented. According to The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi State and head coach Dan Mullen “did not return multiple requests for comment on the situation.” Additionally, the Clarion-Ledger said it was unable to confirm WCBI-TV’s report.

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Simmons, the top-rated player from Mississippi in the 2016 class, signed with MSU in February in a somewhat surprising decision. Simmons, who was rated as the 15th-best player in the country by Rivals.com, was expected to choose either Ole Miss or Alabama.

Simmons has been expected to enroll at MSU this summer.

For more Mississippi State news, visit BulldogBlitz.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!