Taylor charged after girlfriend reports beating

Ex-boxer pleads innocent

Former champion boxer and Olympic medalist Jermain Taylor pleaded innocent to domestic battery and assault charges Thursday, a day after he was arrested during an altercation at his Little Rock home, court documents show.

Taylor entered the plea at 9 a.m. in Little Rock District Court before returning to the Pulaski County jail, where he remained Thursday afternoon.

The 40-year-old Little Rock native is accused of knocking a woman unconscious, putting a knife to her neck and threatening to kill her Wednesday, according to an arrest report.

The reported assault came less than a month after Taylor’s last domestic violence charge was dropped on Aug. 13.

Officers were sent shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday to his home in the 7000 block of Azalea Drive in response to a disturbance with a weapon.

When officers arrived, his 40-year-old girlfriend mouthed, “Help me” while Taylor sat on the front porch with friends, according to a police report.

The victim told police they had been drinking with neighbors earlier that afternoon. When a male neighbor thanked her for getting more alcohol, she replied, “Anytime,” officers wrote.

The report states that Taylor became angry and accused his girlfriend of be-

ing unfaithful. She told officers that he began punching her and slamming her head into the wall until she blacked out.

When she regained consciousness, he removed a knife from underneath a mattress, held it to her throat and threatened to kill her, according to authorities.

Authorities said the woman was afraid of Taylor and waited until after he left to call police.

Police said the woman, who had injuries to her chin, mouth, neck and right arm, was taken to UAMS Medical Center for treatment.

Taylor, a former middleweight world champion and bronze medalist in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, has a long history of domestic violence, aggravated assault and battery since he was arrested in 2014 on charges of shooting his cousin in the leg.

In May 2016, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Famer pleaded guilty to nine felony counts of battery, aggravated assault and terroristic threatening.

Among the allegations he pleaded guilty to was that he punched a patient at a drug rehabilitation facility so hard that he caused facial fractures and that he threatened a family with a gun at a Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Little Rock.

Taylor received a six-year suspended sentence for the nine felony charges, but he was arrested again just over a year later, in July 2017, on multiple charges after reportedly biting his then-girlfriend on the arm and face during a disturbance before taking her phone so she could not call authorities.

After the woman, Ashley Rena Elizabeth White, disappeared and authorities could make no contact with her, the charges of felony terroristic threatening, domestic battery and interference with emergency communication were dropped.

Authorities said investigators went to White’s residence, called her and tried to get family to reach her, but were unsuccessful.