Mizzou’s Tre Williams charged with felony domestic assault, remains suspended from team

Missouri defensive end Tre Williams, who remains suspended from the Tigers football team, has been charged with second-degree domestic assault, a felony, according to court documents.

Williams was arrested Sunday morning after his girlfriend called Columbia police and told an officer that Williams had choked and hit her, according to a probable cause statement.

Assistant Boone County prosecuting attorney Susan Boresi was quoted by two news outlets, the Columbia Missourian on Tuesday night and the Columbia Daily Tribune on Wednesday morning, indicating charges would not be filed or would be dismissed because additional information made the case difficult to prosecute.

Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight issued a news release Wednesday afternoon that said Williams remained charged. Boresi could not be reached for comment by The Star.

“The case involving Tre Williams has not been dismissed,” Knight said. “Because this is a pending case, no further comment will be made by this office at this time.”

Williams was suspended indefinitely from the football team on Sunday, according to athletic department policy, and there’s no change in his status, according to a team spokesperson. Williams posted $6,500 bond and is next due in court Jan. 2.

After police responded around 1:45 a.m. Sunday, Williams’ girlfriend, who is identified by her initials in the probable cause statement, said she had picked Williams up at Shakespeare’s after the two had argued at Fieldhouse Bar. The Star generally does not identify victims of assault.

Williams, the woman told police, requested to be dropped off a friend’s house but then tried to grab her steering wheel twice in an attempt to wreck the car or pull it over. She told Williams she would take him home, but she pulled the car over after he hit her with his forearm and elbow and slapped her on the chest. She told Williams to get out of the car but he refused.

Then, according to the probable cause statement, the woman threw Williams’ phone out of the car. He got out of the car, the woman told police, then she opened her door and grabbed the phone. Williams then reached through the open driver’s side window, choked her with both hands and said “Give me my phone before I (expletive) hurt you,” the woman told police.

A police officer observed swelling on her throat and she said she struggled to breathe, became light-headed and believed her life was in danger, according to the probable cause statement.