Former Seahawks lineman Chad Wheeler found guilty of domestic violence assault

Content warning: This post contains descriptions of alleged domestic violence and assault.

Former Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman Chad Wheeler was found guilty of two counts of domestic violence assault against a former girlfriend Thursday, according to The Seattle Times.

Wheeler was initially arrested and charged with domestic violence assault and unlawful imprisonment in 2021. A jury found him guilty of both first- and second-degree domestic violence assault on Thursday. He was found not guilty of unlawful imprisonment.

Wheeler is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 14. The state will seek the mandatory minimum sentence of five years, per the report, after the jury determined that Wheeler used force or means likely to result in death.

Wheeler’s ex-girlfriend, Alleah Taylor, spoke out after the assault in an interview on “CBS Morning News” in 2021. She posted on social media on Thursday after the verdict was announced, too.

Taylor said she and Wheeler had been dating for about six months, but she noticed things change with him just before she was assaulted, which she told police later was the start of a “manic episode,” as Wheeler had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Taylor said Wheeler grabbed her by her neck and threw her on the bed at their shared apartment the night of the attack, and she said she blacked out twice “from two separate strangulations.” At one point, she ran to the bathroom, she said, and Wheeler was “sipping a smoothie” by the doorway when he calmly said, ‘Wow, you’re alive.”

Taylor told 911 dispatchers that she feared she was going to die and locked herself in the bathroom while waiting for help. It took three officers and two sets of handcuffs to restrain Wheeler.

Wheeler was released by the Seahawks days after his arrest. He apologized to Taylor and her family and initially pleaded not guilty. His trial was delayed several times, and his defense team argued that he was experiencing a mental health episode that night.

Wheeler has not been on an NFL roster since he was released by the Seahawks. He went undrafted out of USC in 2017 and spent two seasons with the New York Giants before landing in Seattle in 2020.