A Dallas man has been sentenced to over eight years in prison after attempting to strangle his girlfriend to death with a dog leash.
Travis Bryant, 46, was first arrested on August 16 after someone called 911 and hung up near Wallace Marine Park. When police arrived at the area, an officer approached Bryant as he exited a van parked in a storage unit and asked if he called 911.
Bryant replied “in a very agitated and upset tone” that he was “frustrated” with his girlfriend over her reaction to Bryant’s friend drowning in a river earlier that day, as reported by the Statesman Journal.
Court documents show that the officer reported Bryant walking away, “continually yelling about police not caring about his friend.”
An additional officer spoke to Bryant’s girlfriend and noticed “red ligature marks” on her neck. She told officers that Bryant was upset about his friend’s death and another personality “took over” as he began strangling her and saying he was going to kill her.
The officers said that Bryant tried to kick, punch, and grab the officers when they attempted to arrest him.
On October 3, a jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding Bryant guilty of attempted murder, assault, strangulation, assaulting a public safety officer, and resisting arrest.
Bryant pled guilty to witness tampering.
As of October 6, Dallas has seen 144 homicides this year.
Dallas’s approved $5.3 billion budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025, which began in October, includes an increase in funding for the Dallas Police Department. The DPD’s budget rose from $657 million to $719 million, representing a nearly 10% boost. However, despite being woefully short, the goal is to add only 2% more sworn officers.
DPD has been hindered in its efforts to manage crime in the City because of a chronic shortage of police officers and a budget that is far below other high-crime jurisdictions. The current number of sworn officers in the DPD is roughly 3,000, which falls short of the City’s 2015 recommendation of 4,000 officers. This shortage of police officers contributes to longer response times for emergency calls, as previously reported by DX.
