In court, the son of a meteorologist from Ohio confessed to assaulting an elderly couple in a parking lot. The incident was captured in a cell phone video recorded by the couple’s daughter.
Kyle Raleigh, aged 34 and the son of WCPO weather forecaster Steve Raleigh, has pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor assault. The victims, Douglas Morrow, 79, and his wife Lois, 76, were the targets of his attack.
Initially facing severe felony assault charges, Kyle saw them being dropped by the prosecutors in exchange for his guilty plea. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 180 days in jail for each assault count.
On June 22, Steve was with his sons Kyle and Carter when their Cadillac Escalade plowed into the Morrows’ Ford F-150 after failing to yield to oncoming traffic.
Carter, 28, is thought to have been driving the Escalade when it hit the Morrows’ car in the lot of Montgomery Inn Boathouse, a barbecue restaurant in Cincinnati.
Troy Morrow, an employee at the Boathouse, had called his parents to pick him up because of an injury he sustained while working, said the family’s attorney, Konrad Kircher.
After the crash, a ‘large fight’ broke out between the various parties at the scene, according to 911 calls.
Stacey Morrow-Stickrod, the elderly couple’s daughter who filmed the confrontation, previously said the famous family became enraged when her father decided to call police because he smelled alcohol and suspected they had been drinking.
‘These were locally famous people and in my opinion believe they are above the law,’ Stacey, who posted video of the incident, wrote online.
The Morrows said Kyle Raleigh punched Troy in the head and slammed him to the ground.
Though, prosecutors said Troy provoked Kyle who was in ‘a sudden fit of rage’ when he struck Douglas and Lois, who both were seen knocked to the pavement in the video.
Douglas was knocked unconscious and sustained a concussion, but Lois got the ‘brunt of the injuries,’ according to a Facebook post by Stacey.
Kyle dealt Lois a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a detached retina.
‘I 100 per cent believe one more hit would have killed her,’ Stacey said in regard to her mother.
During the clash, former Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis happened to be dining at the Boathouse and was seen intervening.
The grainy footage showed a woman repeatedly calling ‘Stop!’ before Steve Raleigh, dressed in a red Hawaiian shirt, pushed someone away.
‘Someone call 911 please,’ the woman pleaded as the camera panned across as Douglas was clutching his head.
His unconscious wife then came into frame as a male voice was heard yelling: ‘That is f***ing ridiculous.’
A man thought to be Steve was then seen over the floored pensioner before saying: ‘Kevin listen to me, f*** that, f*** that.’
Youkilis then bent over Lois to check on her condition as another voice was heard yelling: ‘Dude are you serious he hit a f***ing woman. She’s pouring blood.’
‘You’re an embarrassment to that f***ing Red Sox brand,’ someone shouted. ‘Go back to Boston.’
Stacey would later thank Youkilis for his intervention on behalf of her parents.
‘There were at least 50 people in the lot when this happened because it was at closing of the restaurant,’ she wrote. ‘Only one, Kevin Youkilis, saved my mom and stopped this attack.
‘He was definitely her guardian angel that night. I also believe he was there with them but was ready to fight for her!’
It was announced in September that Steve Raleigh, the meteorologist, wouldn’t face charges for his conduct that day after prosecutors determined that he didn’t break the law.
Troy Morrow was indicted on one count of menacing, a misdemeanor, court filings show.
According to the indictment, Troy ‘knowingly caused Steve Raleigh to believe that (Morrow) would cause physical harm to the person or property of Steve Raleigh.’
Records show Troy’s case is still ongoing and his first pretrial hearing is scheduled for January.
