An Oktibbeha grand jury declined to indict a Mississippi State University football star for aggravated assault after (allegedly) injuring a fellow student through an unprovoked attack.
MSU Junior Trace Howell accused Demonte Russell of sucker-punching him as he left Two Brothers Smoked Meats in Starkville on May 8 around 11:30 PM. The alleged punch struck Howell so hard it knocked him out cold. His head struck the pavement as he fell, causing a brain bleed.
Several witnesses supported Howell's story. The Howell family's attorney stated in a letter to the Starkville Police and Oktibbeha County District Attorney Scott Colom:
As a result of the assault, Trace was left with a grossly swollen jaw and suffered head trauma requiring the placement of staples in the back of his head. Trace first received help from first responders before being transported by ambulance to Oktibbeha County Hospital (“OCH”), where he underwent tests that showed he had (1) bleeding in two areas in his right frontal brain lobe and (2) two bulging discs. The doctors at OCH placed three staples in Trace’s head wound to close it up. After further testing and consultations with a neurologist at Methodist University in Memphis (“Methodist”), the treatment team decided that Trace needed to be immediately transported to Methodist via ambulance to receive better care under the head trauma team there. On Saturday (May 11, 2024), new testing confirmed the bulging discs but showed that the bleeding in the frontal brain lobe to have finally stopped and Trace was discharged that afternoon. Trace could not chew for several days due to his injured jaw, and he continues to suffer extensive pain from the attack, very significant fatigue, and currently has no sense of smell.
Russell is a 6'4", 280 lb defensive end for the gridiron Bulldogs while Howell is all of 150 lbs. Howell graduated from Madison-Central High School while Russell matriculated from Provine High School in Jackson. Howell is the Speaker of the Student Senate and on the Dean's List.
As the four of us were leaving Two Brothers, Trace and I were walking in front of our group. Trace was directly in front of me talking to a friend when I saw Trace turn around quickly, so I turned around. When Trace and I turned around, a huge man who I now know is De'Monte Russell was standing directly in front of us. I heard De'Monte say to Trace, "are you the guy that threw that drink?" I saw Trace starting to try to say something to De'Monte, but before Trace could even say anything De'Monte began throwing punches at Trace--the first punch grazed Trace's face, but the second punch made full contact and knocked Trace out. It was a complete sucker punch, and it was clear that Trace had no idea that the punch was coming...
Starkville police didn't seem to motivated to investigate the attack as it took several weeks to contact Foreman:
Two to three weeks after the attack on Trace by De'Monte, a Detective with the Starkville Police Department called my cell phone and I was able to answer the call. The Detective stated that we needed to schedule a meeting to discuss the attack. I told him that I could not meet that week due to my involvement with Springboard Week for my Masters program but that I would be happy to meet the following week. As of today's date, I have not heard back from the Detective or anyone else from the Starkville Police Department since I left that message.
A Dean asked her if she was sure the culprit was Russell. Three other witnesses provided similar accounts while reporting they were ignored by the Starkville police.
Howell's family asked Colom to obtain an indictment against Russell since his assault caused serious injury.
Colom's office recently presented the case to the grand jury but it declined to indict Russell as it kicked the case back to Starkville Municipal Court.
The city of Starkville will thus prosecute Russell for simple assault. Howell family attorney Jeff Reynolds said:
Mr. Russell has confessed to his brutal, unprovoked attack on his victim, Trace Howell, that caused Trace a traumatic brain injury and two brain bleeds. We will be asking the Starkville City Prosecutor to seek significant jail time for this crime and will be imploring the Starkville Municipal Judge to impose that jail time once Mr. Russell is inevitably found guilty.
Confessed? Russell texted this message to young Howell:
This is not the first time Russell has been in trouble with the law. He was arrested for a DUI in 2023 although the disposition of the case is unknown. He managed to get into a brawl at the Armed Forces Bowl as well.
37 comments:
Mark Keenum should be ashamed.
Blessings can be found throughout Mississippi.
Extra points if it involves a "star."
I know the young man from Madison. He is a kid you want your son to be like and your daughter to marry.
That is a pretty damning Instagram DM. Mississippi State should step up and expel this student as they would a non-athlete that did the same thing.
Reminds me of Jeffery Simmons. I'm a state grad. So is my father. I never wanted Simmons or any other thug on our team. But the sport and its expectations have 'slud' (as Dizzy said) into the shitter.
Thugs being thugs. And yes, I'm a State fan.
The donors will keep donating until it's their kid that gets served bleach at the frat house or gets knocked out by some low iq gladiator that doesn't belong in college.
the same thing happened to my son last fall and the Starkville PD did nothing. They are idiots!!
This is the type of shit that happens when you worship 70 IQ "athletes" because they can run fast with a ball. And people wonder why this nation is in such a decline!
If you have been on a university campus in the last 10 years then you know rapes are also swept under the rug if any MVPs are involved.
I am reading that text message and wondering how such an illiterate person got into university.
He could have had some help generating something more readable. Does he perhaps have a few tutors to help him pass some classes?
Why the Skool at Starkpatch changed it's slogan to
“Taking Care of What Matters.”
The Coaches and the Boosters got these kids fucked up thinking they are above the Law with their uncivilized behaviors. Have fun young men this type of shigity will bite you in the ass later in life.
The video shows a woman, surrounded by a large group of people, laying in the street, covering her head. A man The Clarion-Ledger and other media outlets have identified as Simmons stands over her and repeatedly pummels her with his fists as she covers her head. Screaming can be heard in the background as children stand watching.
Read more at: https://www.sunherald.com/sports/college/sec/mississippi-state-university/article68669412.html#storylink=cpy
The DA that is over Oktibbeha County is a Soros funded Democrat. Soros have hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign.
Attn 4:47 Apparently they ARE above the law. I have been a season ticket holder for several years. I was looking for a reason to cancel my tickets, and now I have found it. I am just sorry someone had to be hurt for me to cancel my mostly unused tickets.
Collom was never going to indict a young man of his ahem-qualifications. Soros gave him that job for a reason. Fight the power-free the land
State Fan here. This is revolting. Absolute miscarriage of justice.
Le Batard: Mississippi State making moral compromise with Simmons
Dan Le Batard examines Mississippi State's decision to allow Jeffery Simmons to enroll despite his facing a simple assault charge after a video surfaced of Simmons appearing to strike a woman.
https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/15925908
Starkville is a dump, just like its thug players.
https://www.facebook.com/wjtvsportszone/videos/opinion-mississippi-state-gets-punishment-for-freshman-jeffery-simmons-wrong-cli/609205395902307/
Criminal Pardonee Bennie Thompson votes against the Laken Riley act again today.
So what else is new? Preferential treatment has been the way of life at these "institutions of higher learning". If not football stars it would be the frat boys and the legacy brats whose families run the state. The only difference is the footballers come from the wrong side of the tracks. Expel him.
Does anyone know how the injured young man is doing? Permanent brain damage? What a disgrace.
Needs to sue Russell and get a judgement on record.
MSU is joke when addressing issues that will not be tolerated in NFL period. I hope Jeff Reynolds gets a truck load of $$ plus a conviction as this young man will have health issues the rest of his life!
I'm reminded of a meme I once saw:
"I'm sorry your daughter got raped but we play Alabama next week."
You can't take a kid from inner city Jackson, throw him in Starkville (or Oxford), lavish him with NIL money, tell him he's untouchable and not expect something like this to happen. This one picked up some traction because the family had means to pursue - there are dozens of instances in SEC towns that get swept under the rug.
Hell, Baylor, an esteemed Baptist university, covered up the murder of a teammate and less than a decade later covered up multiple rapes.
What’s lost in this is Simmons was a star. Not surprising rules would be bent for a star. This guy never did much. 23 tackles and zero sacks as a senior this year. 76 tackles and 2 sacks total over 5 years. Why make yourself look bad over a guy that isn’t any good anyway? State could have won 2 games without him
Do they still have student workers doing the athletes' homework for them at Templeton, because that was totally a thing in the mid 2010s.
Gentlemen, ladies also if present, there are other ways to receive satisfaction besides the court system. There was a time that the court system would have given the victims the justice they longed for, those days are gone. If it had been my son, I would have had some gentlemen speak to the attacker in a way he would have understood.
State Thug-
Colom - that’s why.
All colleges are like this.
MSU athletics has always been a hive of thugs.
Settle down folks and consider a fact or two. The Simmons incident took place before he enrolled at MSU. I'm not sure how MSU can expel student that has yet to enroll. Withdrawal the scholarship offer? Now that is another thing, MSU could have taken that high road and without a doubt the coaches from Oxford would be in Macon shortly with offers to play at OM. Remember that in that era OM signed a kid who sodomized a fellow high school teammate in a hazing ritual.
A pox on both houses.
Geez, I wonder if Sid will write on the current injustice in Starkville?
The grand jury reminds me of Chapelle when asked if Michael Jackson was guilty; “He made Thriller…Thriller!”
Not a single original comment here since the last time this case came up on JJ months ago. Maybe there is another side to this.
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