Probation ordered in strangulation

HOLLIDAYSBURG — An Altoona man will be on probation for five years after rendering guilty pleas Tuesday to a felony charges of strangulation and endangering the welfare of a child.

Rasoul Hamin Du Speight, 44, who was supposed to go on trial this week in Blair County court, rendered the guilty pleas in front of Senior Judge Richard A. Lewis of Dauphin County, who was assigned to preside over the three-day case.

Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Mays and Chief Public Defender Russ Montgomery presented the negotiated plea and recommended sentence to Lewis, thereby allowing the trial to be canceled and the summoned jurors to be dismissed.

Mays said Tuesday that the victim was supportive of the proposed resolution. It also requires Speight to enroll in an anger management class and to seek counseling for batterers, Mays said.

Altoona police arrested Speight on Feb. 17, 2024, after responding to a report of a domestic fight involving a man, woman and children on the 900 block of 29th Street.

Charges indicate that Speight became upset with the woman, who was nine months pregnant, after she took a 1-year-old child from Speight and started to put the child to bed. Police said an argument between the couple turned into a physical fight, where Speight was accused of grabbing the woman by the hair, pressing her against the wall, striking her face and putting his hands around her neck, making it difficult for her to breathe, as evidenced by her raspy voice.

Police said the woman and the children subsequently fled from Speight and went to a different room where they dialed 911 for help.

While Speight's initial charges included a felony count of aggravated assault of an unborn child, Magisterial District Judge Daniel DeAntonio dismissed that charge at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing on Feb. 28.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.