A news release from the district attorney’s office stated that 31 year old Korrinn McGruder was convicted of an enhanced felony of family violence strangulation with a prior conviction because the jury determined McGruder’s hands were considered a deadly weapon.
The trial judge sentenced McGruder to a 15 year sentence.
One of the prosecutors told WTAW News that the victim was not cooperative when she testified, and she recanted previous statements she made to police.
McGruder faces another trial on a charge of dragging the same woman with his vehicle in January of last year. That incident, which was witnessed by neighbors, was brought up during last week’s trial.
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
On April 29, 2022, 272nd District Judge John Brick sentenced Korrinn McGruder to 15 years in prison for Assault Family Violence Strangulation with a Previous Conviction and the maximum 10 years in prison for the offense of Assault Family Violence with a Previous Conviction. The Defendant was convicted on Thursday of both offenses. The jury also made an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon, finding that the Defendant’s hands were capable of causing death or serious bodily injury during the offense.
On July 26, 2019, Bryan Police received a call from the Defendant’s girlfriend who was in the process of fleeing the Defendant’s apartment. The defendant’s girlfriend, who was 10 weeks pregnant, reported that the Defendant had become enraged at her during an argument and had punched her in the face and strangled her. Officer Honkomp with the Bryan Police Department met with the victim and noted a visible injury consistent with a punch and signs and symptoms consistent with a victim of strangulation.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that on January 10, 2021, the College Station Police Department responded to a call from neighbors reporting that the victim had been drug by a vehicle. College Station Officers found the victim with visible injuries, including road rash, consistent with the neighbors’ report. The victim refused to allow CSPD officers to take photos of her injuries or talk to the police about what happened. The victim explained that during the 2019 incident with the Bryan Police Department, she had talked to the police and that the Defendant had discovered everything she had told the police. As a result, she could not cooperate.
Prosecutors presented expert testimony on the cycle of abuse in family violence relationships and the difficulty that many victims face in reporting and leaving abusive relationships. Prosecutors also presented expert testimony from a strangulation expert on the dangers of strangulation to both a pregnant mother and her unborn child.
This case was investigated by the Bryan Police Department, College Station Police Department, and the Brazos County District Attorney’s Office, with assistance from Baylor Scott and White’s Forensic Nursing Program and Allison Pourteau.