A brutal assault that left a high school football player with a fractured skull reached a stunning conclusion in an Angleton, Texas, courtroom Friday
Reid Mitchell, 19, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement to assaulting his teammate, Cole Hagan, at a party on Dec. 3, 2021. The assault resulted in traumatic injuries for Hagan, who in addition to the skull fracture also had bleeding on the brain and a broken collarbone. He spent time on a ventilator.
Judge Patrick Bulanek sentenced Mitchell to 120 days in jail and 10 years of probation for the assault, after Hagan and his family asked the judge to show mercy on his former teammate.
Judge Bulanek told Mitchell (per Katie Balevic, Insider.com), “He’s probably the only reason I’m accepting this plea. Otherwise, I would have let a jury of your peers do the deciding for me. Really, the people who are showing you mercy are probably the people who shouldn’t.”
Hagan’s attorney, Loren Klitsas, added that “The family is very, very pleased with the Reid Mitchell sentence. … Cole and the family decided to show mercy toward him and give him an opportunity.”
Two other teens allegedly involved in the incident also face upcoming trials for aggravated assault.
Hagan, 18, is doing well, according to his attorney, and will attend Texas State University this fall. He and his family are pursuing a lawsuit “against several of Hagan’s peers – who were accused of having knowledge of the attack before it took place,” according to the report.
[Insider.com; Photo credit: Insider.com]
