Dallas District Attorney Declines to Prosecute Deep Ellum Attack Victim [Updated]

After filing additional felony charges against the alleged assailant in the brutal assault of a Deep Ellum woman that was captured on video, Dallas police recommended that the victim be charged.

WFAA reports that the victim, L’Daijohnique Lee, faces charges stemming from the “thousands of dollars” of damage she allegedly caused to a truck belonging to the alleged assailant Austin Shuffield after she was punched. Criminal mischief is a state jail felony if the damage costs over $1,500 to $20,000, according to CBS DFW. One day after an arrest warrant was issued for Lee, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute Lee on the criminal mischief charge. According to WFAA reporter Rebecca Lopez, the arrest warrant was “recalled” on Wednesday afternoon.

Shuffield, formerly a bartender at Deep Ellum’s High and Tight Barbershop, originally had been charged with public intoxication, interference with an emergency call, and assault, all misdemeanors — and that decision that sparked protests in Deep Ellum calling for harsher charges against Shuffield. Last Friday, he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawfully carrying a weapon.

Lee’s attorney Lee Merritt wrote on Twitter: “A black woman alone in a dark parking lot is stalked, harassed and assaulted by a white male. He brandishes a gun, knocks away her phone when she tries to call for help— then beats her mercilessly with blows to the head. DPD just found a way to charge HER with a felony.”

Police say that the violence began when Shuffield confronted Lee about where her car was parked.

• Woman beaten in Deep Ellum parking lot now charged in the case [WFAA]
• Woman Beaten In Deep Ellum To Face Charges [CBS DFW]
• Dallas County District Attorney Dismisses Felony Charge Against Woman Allegedly Assaulted in Deep Ellum [NBC DFW]
• Two Felony Charges Filed Against Former Bartender After Deep Ellum Attack [EDFW] [EDFW]
• Deep Ellum Bar Forced to Close as Protesters Take the Streets Following Violent Assault [EDFW]
• Deep Ellum Bartender Fired, Charged With Assault After Video of Violent Beating Goes Viral [EDFW]