One month after Alleah Taylor spoke publicly about a domestic violence incident in which former Seahawks offensive lineman Chad Wheeler was charged with violently assaulting her, she has revealed further details about the abuse she says she suffered and about her ongoing road to recovery.
Taylor, 27, told Daily Blast Live “The moment he wrapped his fingers around my throat, that’s when I thought I was gonna die. I didn’t think I was going to make it once he started strangling me.”
In January, 27-year-old Wheeler, Taylor’s then-boyfriend, was arrested on felony domestic assault charges of assaulting Taylor in a suburban Seattle residence.
Taylor said the assault began after Wheeler, who is 6 feet 7 and 310 pounds, told her to “bow down” to him and she refused. According to Taylor, Wheeler choked her until she was unconscious, then expressed surprise that she was still alive after she woke up.
“He thought I was dead on my bed and continued to eat dinner,” Taylor wrote in leaked messages in which she detailed the alleged assault. “When I ran into the bathroom, he said, ‘Wow, you’re still alive,’ while sipping on a smoothie.”
Taylor says she ran to the bathroom and locked the door to get away from Wheeler and called 911 to tell the operator she was being “killed.”
When police arrived, they say Wheeler was in the bathroom with Taylor after he’d picked the lock to gain entry.
Taylor told DBL that Wheeler’s actions in the moments that followed were hurtful.
“When I was in the bathroom calling 911 he didn’t check on me and ask if I was OK, but when the police came, they had pushed him into the bathtub and he asked them if they were OK,” Taylor said.
“Hearing that kind of broke my heart a little bit, because you ask the cops if they’re OK, but you didn’t check on me.”
Taylor was taken to a hospital and treated for a dislocated shoulder after the attack. She says she underwent surgeries and told DBL she also suffered a concussion and she is still looking forward to regaining complete range of motion in her arm.
Images of Taylor’s battered and bloodied face were shared widely on social media.
“I have bolts, and steel, and a steel plate I’m gonna have forever in my arm. … I’m gonna have to deal with this the rest of my life,” she told CBS in February.
Wheeler pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree domestic violence assault, domestic violence unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest last month. His trial is scheduled for April 6. If convicted, Wheeler could be sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison.
Taylor said she believes Wheeler should serve time behind bars for his actions. “This isn’t the first run-in he’s had with the cops in a violent manner. I just feel like he needs to understand the consequences of what he did. He almost took my life.” She said Wheeler avoiding prison time wouldn’t “be beneficial to him or to public safety.”
Taylor said it took her some time to decide to press charges against Wheeler, and she didn’t choose to do so until she thought about what would happen if he ever attacked another woman. “I had to put myself on the back burner and think ‘what if this happens to another woman?'” Taylor said.
