Cleveland Browns wideout Donte Stallworth, who hit a pedestrian with his car earlier this month, is being investigated to determine whether alcohol played a role in the fatal accident. Stallworth has told Miami Police officers that the 59-year-old construction worker was rushing to catch a bus in the early morning hours of March 14 when he struck him with his Bentley. He had flashed his lights, but the incident occurred too fast for Stallworth to avoid hitting the man, the wide receiver said. But a report released by police on Tuesday refuted Stallworth’s account. The man was not in the crosswalk, the report says, citing comments from callers and an accident scene analysis. Stallworth was driving about 50 mph, 10 mph above the speed limit, and a police diagram shows that Reyes was hit in the far left lane of the six-lane MacArthur Causeway – not in a nearby crosswalk. The report says that Stallworth stopped a few feet away. No charges have been filed against Stallworth pending the outcome of blood tests to determine whether alcohol was a factor. Among the calls from people who dialed 911 that morning are a woman who said, “There’s a man laying in the middle of the road…He’s dead. He’s dead … He was just laying in the middle of the road. I think he’s dead.” Stallworth’s attorney said his client is cooperating with police. Stallworth, who was scheduled to receive a $4.75 million signing bonus the day before the accident, has said he is “grief-stricken” over the accident. He signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns before last season but was injured most of the year.

Parents: Cops’ story of son’s suicide sounds shaky. The parents of a Mississippi high school star athlete aren’t buying the cops’ story that their son shot himself to death during a traffic stop. They want the NAACP to initiate an independent autopsy to determine how Billey Joe Johnson, of George County High School. The officer who stopped the 17-year-old running back said that he had gone back to his patrol car to do a license check and heard a gunshot. He said he then saw Johnson fall out of the driver side of the car with the shotgun on top of him. “The NAACP, along with the family, have determined that Billey Joe Johnson did not commit suicide,” Curley Clark, the vice president of the NAACP’s Mississippi chapter told The Mississippi Press. “At this point, nothing is concrete until the results of the autopsies have been made known.” Clark said the civil rights group will have the results of a second autopsy done this week.” This incident will not be swept under the rug,” Clark told WLOX. “We are going to make sure all the facts are brought out. We are going to provide the proper assistance necessary to sure no civil rights were violated.” Johnson’s brother, Eddie, said that Billey loved to hunt and would sometimes go early in the morning before heading to school.  That, he said, would explain why his brother had a shotgun in his car. Billy rushed for more than 4,000 yards in his high school career and had scholarship offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Oregon.

South Africa finally acknowledges AIDS epidemic. After years where key South African leaders downplayed the AIDS crisis, new leadership in the country finally acknowledged it and vowed to do more to fight the epidemic at a rally commemorating World AIDS Day Monday. South African political leaders, AIDS activists and a United Nations official were among those in attendance at the rally in Durban, reports The Associated Press. Former President Thabo Mbeki has been widely criticized for not doing much to help those living with the illness, and he even publicly expressed doubt about whether HIV caused AIDS. Mbeki’s health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was also really unpopular with activists because of her rejection of conventional AIDS drugs. Msimang, instead, favored the use of lemons, garlic, beetroot and the African potato to treat the disease. But now that both are gone, the nation’s new leaders hope to take on the challenge. “We are the first to admit that a lot still needs to be done,” said the South Africa Deputy President Baleka Mbete. The country’s HIV pool, an estimated 5.5 million people, ranks No. 1 in the world, and about 1,000 people die of the disease every day in that country, reports the AP. “With the young and working age dying in droves, South Africa’s death statistics resemble those of a country in a terrible war,” said the Confederation of South African Trade Unions. Harvard researchers discovered that the previous government’s failure to provide AIDS medication to the population between 2000 and 2005 caused more than 330,000 South Africans to die. “We have to mourn the lives of those we have not saved,” said Barbara Hogan, the nation’s new health minister. Improving HIV treatment and prevention programs and providing medicine to infected pregnant women so they won’t pass the virus on to their babies, are also on her list of priorities. The government aims to reduce the number of new infections by half by 2011 while making sure that 80 percent of people living with the disease get treatment.

Ethiopian singer found guilty in deadly hit-and-run. Popular Ethiopian singer Teddy Afro was found guilty of manslaughter for a 2006 hit-and-run incident that left a homeless man dead, reports the BBC. The star, whose real name is Tewodros Kassahun, will be sentenced on Friday and faces between five and 15 years in prison. The court found that Afro ran over the man with his car and drove away without stopping. But his fans think the charges are politically motivated. Afro’s music was an anthem for protests by the opposition three years ago, reports the BBC. There had been a mix-up as to what date the accident actually occurred. On the first date, Afro had an alibi. On the second probable date, he said he was with friends, but the judge didn’t believe him and found him guilty on all counts. When the ruling came down, Afro was vocally upset, but was able to give a thumbs-up sign to his supporters while he was leaving the court room, telling reporters, “I never killed anyone, I didn’t get justice from this court.”

Serena Williams memoirs to be published in 2009. Grand Central Publishing will release the currently untitled life story of tennis phenom Serena Williams in 2009. A reported $1.3 million deal gave Grand Central the rights to Williams’ memoirs after a bidding war. A company spokesperson says: “Serena Williams is one of the world’s most remarkable athletes. We’ve watched her rise to number one, despite physical and emotional setbacks, and her hard work and determination have inspired legions of fans, young and old. Serena will give her memoir a strong motivational slant.” Williams recently won an Olympic gold medal and the women’s U.S. Open title.

NBA’s Josh Howard disses “Star Spangled Banner.” Josh Howard’s best move yet may be off the basketball court – when he decides to hire a new publicist. Having admitted to smoking weed, getting arrested for driving nearly 100 in a 55 mile-per-hour zone and throwing a party the night before a playoff game, the Dallas player recently made an announcement: He doesn’t like the national anthem. Howard is caught on YouTube at Allen Iverson’s recent celebrity flag football game telling the camera: “The Star Spangled Banner’s going on right now. I don’t celebrate that sh**. I’m Black.” He mutters something about Sen. Barack Obama before the camera is aimed a different way. Not that Howard isn’t entitled to free speech, but soldiers in Iraq and a looming presidential election might signal less than ideal timing on this one.