It took three years, but a court has ruled on the domestic violence incident that former NFL offensive lineman Chad Wheeler allegedly committed against his ex-girlfriend, Alleah Taylor. On Thursday, Wheeler was found guilty of domestic violence by a jury in King County, Wash.
Wheeler almost killed his now ex-girlfriend, who is Black. Wheeler is white, and the incident became racially charged by the public. The jury found Wheeler guilty of one count of first-degree domestic violence and one count of second-degree domestic violence while finding him not guilty on the charge of unlawful imprisonment.
Following the ruling, Wheeler was remanded into custody and will be sentenced on Dec. 14. After Thursday’s ruling, Alleah Taylor posted a statement on the social media platform ‘X’ simply saying, “I finally have justice.”
In his brief NFL career, Wheeler played for the New York Giants and the Seattle Seahawks. He blamed the domestic violence incident on a “manic episode” as a result of being bipolar and he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
What Happened
In late January 2021, former Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman Chad Wheeler, a white man standing 6 ft 7 inches tall and weighing 310 pounds, assaulted his Black girlfriend, Alleah Taylor, who stands 5 feet 9 and weighs 145 pounds. Taylor alleged Wheeler, who she had been dating for around six months at the time of the incident, demanded she “bow down” to him, and when she didn’t comply, he attacked her and choked her within an inch of her life.
Taylor said she sustained a concussion and an arm injury that required bolts and a steel plate to fix. According to Taylor, she blacked out twice before the attack was over. She recalled that after she woke up, Wheeler said, “Wow, you’re still alive.”
Prosecutors can now seek “a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for the” first-degree charge after the jury found Wheeler “used force or means likely to result in death,” per a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. In addition, authorities can now “seek a sentence above the standard range” for the second-degree charge.