Man pleads guilty to student assault, gets two years' probation

A former Southeast Missouri State University football player pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to probation.

D'Eldrick D. Taylor, 21, entered his plea last Wednesday and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation on a suspended imposition of sentence, according to Cape Girardeau County prosecutor Morley Swingle.

Taylor could have been sentenced anywhere from one day to one year in the county jail and fined up to $1,000. He was one of three others charged in a Dec. 4 attack of two Southeast students who were punched and kicked while leaving a fraternity party.

According to Swingle, Taylor threw the first punch, but he did not kick the victims.

Two other defendants, Frederick D. Williams and Timmy L. Holloman, both 19, were scheduled for trial March 10 before Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp on two counts of misdemeanor assault.

Swingle said his office has filed a motion to combine those two cases for a joint trial. A ruling is pending.

A fourth defendant, Gerald D. Breedlove, 23, was still being sought by authorities for misdemeanor assault.

Following the attack, all four defendants were barred from school. Holloman has since been reinstated and rejoined the football team.

Southeast dean of students Irene Ferguson declined to comment on whether the other defendants had been reinstated, but said court outcomes have no bearing on the school's decisions.