HOLLIDAYSBURG — An Altoona man will be placed on probation for five years after pleading guilty Tuesday to one count of strangulation and endangering the welfare of a child.

Rasoul Hamin Du Speight, 44, who was scheduled to be arraigned this week in Blair County Court, entered the guilty pleas before Dauphin County Chief Judge Richard A. Lewis, who was assigned to preside the case of three days.

Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Mays and Chief Public Defender Russ Montgomery presented the negotiated plea and recommended Lewis’ sentence, allowing the mistrial and dismissal of the jurors.

Mays said Tuesday that the victim supported the proposed resolution. It also requires Speight to enroll in an anger management class and seek counseling for batterers, Mays said.

Altoona police arrested Speight on February 17, 2024, after responding to a report of a domestic fight involving a man, woman and children on the 900 block of 29th Street.

The charges indicate that Speight became angry with the woman, who was nine months pregnant, after she took a 1-year-old child from Speight and began to bed the child. Police said an argument between the couple turned into a physical fight, in which Speight is accused of grabbing the woman by her hair, pinning her against a wall, punching her in the face and putting his hands in her around her neck, making it difficult for her to breathe. as evidenced by her husky voice.

Police said the woman and children later ran from Speight and went to a different room, where they called 911 for help.

While Speight’s initial charges included a felony count of aggravated battery on an unborn child, District Judge Daniel DeAntonio dismissed that charge at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing on February 28.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.