Pottstown man draws jail for strangling woman

NORRISTOWN >> A Pottstown man has some jail time and counseling in his future in connection with a domestic disturbance during which he strangled his girlfriend after reportedly getting upset about text messages on her phone.

Kalil Anthony Daye, 24, of the 400 block of North Evans Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of strangulation in connection with the September 2020 incident.

Judge Gary S. Silow, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, said Daye can be made eligible for the jail’s work release program but only after serving eight months of the minimum sentence. Daye will receive credit for six months he spent in jail while awaiting court action on the charges.

Silow also ordered Daye to complete two years’ probation, consecutive to parole, meaning Daye will be under court supervision for about four years.

Additionally, the judge said Daye must complete a domestic violence counseling program and undergo mental health and drug and alcohol evaluations and abide by all recommendations for treatment.

Daye is prohibited from having contact with the victim.

By pleading guilty to the charge, Daye admitted that he knowingly or intentionally impeded the breathing or blood circulation of another person by applying pressure to the victim’s neck.

The investigation began on Sept. 18, 2020, when Pottstown police responded to an apartment in the unit block of North Hanover Street for a report of a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival, police found the victim “crying and visibly upset and scared,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Police Officer Nikolaus R. Stoltzfus.

“(The victim) stated her boyfriend, Kalil Daye, spent the night at her house and became upset about text messages on her phone,” Stoltzfus alleged in court documents, adding when the woman requested Daye return a key to her residence Daye “became physical with her.”

The victim reported Daye placed both hands around her throat and prevented her from breathing. Daye pushed the woman through the hallway while his hands were around her throat and picked her up and tried to throw her down, according to the criminal complaint.

The victim stated her neck was sore and police observed redness “all around her neck,” according to the arrest affidavit.

Other charges of simple assault and harassment were dismissed against Daye as part of the plea agreement.

Kalil Anthony Daye pushed the woman through the hallway while his hands were around her throat and picked her up and tried to throw her down, according to the criminal complaint.