Greensburg man pleads guilty to September attack of girlfriend
A Greensburg man will be paroled from the county jail next month after he pleaded guilty to the strangulation and assault of his live-in girlfriend.
Kevin M. Reese, 29, was charged in September in connection with the attack at his Eastmont Estates apartment in which police said he injured his girlfriend and threatened the couple’s 1-year-old child.
Reese pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony strangulation count for the September incident and one misdemeanor offense of simple assault in connection with a separate case filed in November 2019 involving the same victim.
According to court records, Reese’s accuser claimed he was drunk early Sept. 7, 2019, when his girlfriend said he punched her in the face then climbed atop her and choked her. The woman told police she was able to escape briefly before Reese again choked her then threatened to harm their child.
Police said Reese fled the apartment but was later spotted by investigators and apprehended as he fell into a brush pile in a failed attempt to flee again.
Appearing by video from the county jail, Reese said it was in his best interest to plead guilty to the two charges. County prosecutors dismissed charges of simple assault, harassment, child endangerment and flight to avoid apprehension in the case related to the September incident.
Reese pleaded guilty to one simple assault offense in connection with an incident in which he is accused of hitting the same woman during a dispute on Nov. 14, 2019.
Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani sentenced Reese to serve four to 23 months in jail and gave him credit the more than three months he served in jail since his arrest.
“I am one of five people in my unit that tested negative for coronavirus,” Reese said.
A coronavirus outbreak that started last month at the jail has seen more than 100 inmates infected. As a result, no inmates will be transported to the courthouse or local magistrate offices for hearings until at least January.
The judge ordered Reese to serve an additional year on probation and to have no abusive contact with his victim once he is released from the jail.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com.
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