Ringgold football players reach plea deals in assault case
CHARLEROI – A former member of the Ringgold High School football team agreed Thursday to plead guilty to simple assault in a case where he and another player attacked a teammate last month at the district’s stadium.
The other student who was initially charged with simple assault, Tyrese Youngblood, agreed to plead guilty to a harassment citation and pay $454 in fines and costs to resolve his case before District Judge Larry Hopkins. Meanwhile, Dezmier Majors waived his preliminary hearing before Hopkins and he agreed to plead guilty to simple assault Jan. 3 before Washington County Judge Gary Gilman under a tentative plea agreement with the district attorney’s office. Majors is expected to be sentenced to six months of probation, court records show.
Majors leaped and kicked 16-year-old Roderick Wilson Jr. in the back and base of the neck on Sept. 13 outside of the gate to Joe Montana Stadium after football practice. Shortly before that incident, surveillance video shows Wilson running from the locker room being chased by Youngblood. Youngblood is also seen grabbing Wilson and punching and kneeing him in the stomach before running back into the locker room.
Majors and Youngblood are both 18 years old and from Donora.
Majors was no longer playing football at Ringgold, said one of his relatives, who also indicated Youngblood has since returned to team.
The victim’s father, Roderick Wilson Sr., said he had no issues with how the case was handled Thursday.
He said the motive for the attack on his son was “youthful testosterone.”
In a related matter, the district allowed the coach of the Lil Rams Wrestling program to return to school property after he resigned when the school board interpreted his comments about the players on Facebook as inappropriate and racist.
The coach, Doug Conroy, referred to the players as “thugs,” resulting in the district receiving complaints about the word having racist overtones.
Superintendent Karen Polkabla said both sides met and resolved the problem Oct. 11.
“The district is happy to provide our students with the facilities necessary for the success of this program,” she said.
Conroy said letter-writing and phone call campaigns to the district in support of him as a coach began in response to media reports about the controversy.
“It was the voice of this community that made the difference,” Conroy said.