He faces up to 12 months in prison and/or up to five years of probation. As part of his plea agreement, an additional count of strangulation, a fourth-degree felony, was dismissed.
Ohio was the last state in the U.S. to have a specific law against strangulation. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law in early January, and it took effect 90 days later, on April 4. The crime is a felony of the fifth- to second-degree depending on the level of harm.
Dayton police responded April 10 to an alarm at a residence in the 30 block of Ivy Avenue where they encountered a woman with “injuries that were immediately obvious to officers on scene,” according to an affidavit filed in Dayton Municipal Court.
The woman said she was assaulted by her boyfriend, identified as Qasim, and that he made a copy of her key without her knowledge and used it to get inside her home.
She said he choked her and struck her multiple times in the face, and officers reported she suffered bruising and cuts on her neck and a severely swollen and discolored eye, the affidavit stated.
A message was left with Qasim’s attorney seeking comment about his plea.
He remains free on bail while he awaits sentencing.
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
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