Report: Additional allegations emerge in Demond Demas case, separate assault charge being investigated

According to a new report, new allegations surrounding Texas A&M receiver Demond Demas have emerged as a second assault claim has been made. A former girlfriend of Demas alleges that he slapped and choked her several times during a six-month period, beginning in the summer of 2020. The new allegations come after Demas was recently arrested on an assault/family violence charge following allegations from his current girlfriend.

New allegations in Demond Demas case

In a new report from The Houston Chronicle, a former girlfriend of Demas has detailed her experience of being assaulted by Demas during their relationship. Brianna Turk, a current student at Prairie View A&M, said Demas slapped her and choked her several times during a six-month period starting in the summer of 2020.

Warning: Details from the report contain detailed depictions of violence.

“He started to choke me,” Turk said. “At that point I had to take my hands off my face, because I was trying to grab his hands to make him let me go. I told him, ‘I can’t breathe!’ He let go for a split second and I thought that was the end of it. But then he started choking me again, and I was screaming for him to get off me.

“He eventually let me go, and when he did I crawled into the bathroom and started bawling.”

The report indicates that Turk reported the assault to police but the Brazos County district attorney’s office declined to pursue charges at that time, citing a lack of overall evidence and a “she said/he said” circumstance, a law enforcement official said.

Turk’s mother, Iesha Turk, tried reaching out to the A&M football program to discuss Demas’ alleged abuse of her daughter. She specifically tried contacting Dameyune Craig, who is Demas’s position coach with the team. Turk had met Craig before, as he had once visited with Demas about his frustration with limited playing time on the team. Turk alleged that Demas abused her again following that visit — including choking and leaving her with a bloody leg and black eye.

“No one ever reached out [from A&M football], and I had sent them a picture of her [bruised] face,” Iesha Turk said. “I have never heard back from anyone from the football staff.”

The Houston Chronicle spoke with Turk about how their relationship began, and how the assaults began. Turk stated that she had seen early signs, but ignored them at the time.

“I just liked his personality, and we hit it off as soon as we met,” Turk said. “There was little stuff [early on] that he would blow out of proportion or blow up at me about. There was one particular incident in our school cafeteria in front of our friends when he was yelling and cussing at me.

“I just didn’t see it the way everybody else saw it. I thought, ‘Oh, he’s just mad right now … he’ll get over it. He just acts this way sometimes.’ A lot of people around me were telling me it would turn into a bad situation, but I didn’t see the signs.”

Brianna Turk detailed two additional incidents specifically, including the first time that he struck her. According to Turk, the level of violence escalated over time, to her surprise. Both incidents took place prior to Demond Demas’ current relationship, and are not yet a part of his ongoing assault case.

“The very first time I remember him slapping me in the mouth was upstairs in the movie room of his aunt’s house,” Brianna said. “I said something ‘smart’ to him, and he doesn’t like it when I talk smart to him, and he just popped me in the mouth for it. I thought, ‘Where did that even come from?’ I was in shock.

“I told him, ‘You can’t do stuff like that because my parents have always told me little stuff turns into full-on abuse.’ He said, ‘You know I’d never really put my hands on you, right?’”

The second incident that Turk recalled was in his apartment on campus at Texas A&M as she was styling his hair. When her mother convinced her to file a report about what happened, the incident had to be reported through the university as it fell under their jurisdiction.

“I said to him, ‘Can you just turn your head so I can finish doing your hair?’” Brianna said. “I said it in a tone that he didn’t like, and he just stared dead at me, and I already knew he was going to pop me in the mouth — I just knew it was coming. But this time he full-on slapped me across my face, and so hard it turned my face to the other side. I just sat there and cried and he apologized and said he was sorry and that he would never do it again.”

Turk stated that she took so long to initially report the incidents due to her fear of ruining his football career. She was concerned about getting him into trouble because he had told her that “football was all he had” and that he would “lose everything” if she reported it.

Prior to his arrest last week, Dumas was already placed on suspension by the school for missing classes. His suspension has continued through the ongoing legal process.. As of now, Texas A&M claims that Demond Demas’ case is being handled by their Title IX department, not at the football team’s level.

“Our Title IX office handles that and it’s out of our hands,” said Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher after Demas was arrested.