One day after falling out of the back of a pickup truck, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry has died. This follows a ‘domestic dispute’ between Henry and his Tongan fiancé Loleini Tonga.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said that Henry died at 6:36 a.m. Thursday, he was 26.
"It is with great sadness to learn Chris has passed away," Henry's agent, Andy Simms, said in a statement. "For those who knew Chris, he was nothing like his public perception. A loving and caring individual, he was thankful for what he had in life, and proud of what he had overcome."
Henry was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday after he "came out of the back of the vehicle" in what authorities have described as a domestic dispute. The dispute is reported to have been with his fiancée, Loleini Tonga. Henry was found on a residential road “apparently suffering life-threatening injuries”, according to the police.
Police spokeswoman Rosalyn Harrington said homicide detectives have been assigned to the case but had no further information. Police have not released the 911 tapes, and Harrington wouldn't say if the woman was present at the scene when police arrived.
The 25 year-old fiancé of the late Bengals receiver Chris Henry, Loleini Tonga’s involvement in the NFL star tragic death is still unclear. Chris reportedly ran after Loleini and jumped into the back of the yellow pick-up truck to stop her from leaving during a “domestic dispute”. Chris fell or was thrown of the moving truck and died as a results of his injuries on Thursday (December 17).
Chris and Loleini were recently engaged and they were apparently a happy couple. Loleini wrote on MySpace, “Jus put deposIt down 4 weDDing piCs… Paid 4 ouR riNgs… Bout 2 eaT wiT my maN n bay bayz…. Startin 2 geT a headache thinKing bouT dis weddin.. I need A cuP.”
Loleini had no visible injuries right after the accident and the authorities are looking into the possibility she was swerving back and forth, which may have caused Chris to be thrown out of the truck
"He was good at what he did as a player, he was a teammate to our players and a friend to almost all of us in the building," Bengals president Mike Brown said at a news conference Thursday at the team's headquarters. "We knew him in a way that [was not consistent] with his public persona. We liked him. He had worked through troubles in his life ... to a point where he was going to have the future we all wanted for him and that he wanted for himself. 
"At the time of his tragedy he was running to daylight."
Henry had been away from the Bengals after being placed on injured reserve after breaking his arm in the Nov. 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens. In the past, Henry faced many troubled times being suspended from the NFL for a half a season in 2007 by commissioner Roger Goodell for his continued transgressions.
Despite his past, the Bengals still gave Henry another chance and it had proved to pay off for both parties. Henry had been out of trouble this season and productive on the football field. Everyone who knew Henry felt that he had turned his life around and left his seemingly troubled ways.
"If you only knew him by hearsay, you'd think he's some kind of ogre," Brown said, during the Bengals' appearance on HBO's "Hard Knocks" series this summer. "It's not true. He's a good person. When you see him up close, you'll find that you'll like him. He'll be a soft-spoken, pleasant person."
"I kind of felt like I dug myself out of the hole and started doing the right things," Henry said in an interview with The Associated Press as training camp opened. "People say, 'How you feeling now Chris? You doing all right?' I just tell them I'm blessed.
With the loss of Henry, the Bengals family will once again be in mourning as they try to handle the loss of another member of the organization. Earlier this season, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s wife died unexpectedly. 
Around the football world many people have spoken about the loss of Henry and the
"Chris was a very good -- very good -- friend of mine, really extremely close," Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco said. "It's sad to see that it's come to this point. I'd just talked to Chris Tuesday night. He called to see how I was doing." "We talked before every game and he would just say go out there and handle your business. I don't know what else to say. He had been doing everything right."
"I enjoyed our time together at West Virginia and we shared a lot of great moments. I have many fond memories of our three years together and will remember those forever,” said Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez.
"The entire Mountaineer football family is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Chris Henry. We say 'Once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer,' and Chris was a big part of our success during his time here. For me, he was a real joy to be around on a daily basis. He always came to work and loved to play football." - WVU coach Bill Stewart.
Sources: Jocklife; BumpShack