HOUSTON—A Marine who served in Iraq has been indicted on a murder charge after authorities say he stabbed a Rice basketball player to death and injured his twin brother during a fight outside a College Station bar.

Ronald Andrew Johnson Jr., 24, also was indicted Thursday on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge, Brazos County Assistant District Attorney Danny Smith said. Johnson, who is free on bail, is accused of stabbing Jonathan Bailey, 22, and his twin, Janson, in April 2007.

Dan Cogdell, Johnson’s attorney, said Johnson is innocent, did not initiate the fight and was merely defending himself.

“It’s a real shame that he was apparently safer defending our country in Iraq than he was by going to a bar in College Station,” he said. “He and his friend were attacked unlawfully with deadly force and they exercised the rights they have under the law to defend themselves and now he’s facing a murder charge. It’s a tragedy all the way.”

Police found the Bailey brothers at about 1:45 a.m. with multiple stab wounds.

The brothers had turned 22 years old the night before the fight.

Smith would not say why it took a year for the indictment.

“I can’t really talk about all that because it’s about the facts of the case,” Smith said.

Jonathan Bailey died behind the bar, and Janson Bailey was briefly hospitalized.

Jonathan Bailey, a 6-foot-3 guard who transferred from Texas State, played one season as a walk-on at Rice. He averaged about 4 points and 10 minutes a game in 2006-07.

“This is one of those life events you can never explain,” coach Willis Wilson said after the slaying.

If convicted of murder, Johnson faces between five and 99 years in prison. Aggravated assault is a second-degree felony and can bring two to 20 years in prison.