SANDPOINT — A Priest River man entered an Alford plea Friday, May 23, on charges stemming from a domestic violence incident that occurred late last year.  

Darius Slaughter, 29, was charged with felony attempted strangulation in the presence of a child and misdemeanors providing false information to law enforcement, false imprisonment, battery and injury to child.

As part of an amended pretrial settlement agreement, Slaughter entered an Alford plea to felony attempted strangulation in the presence of a child and misdemeanor injury to child. 

At the start of the court proceedings, when District Court Judge Lamont Berecz asked Slaughter how he would be pleading to the charges against him, he requested a no-contest plea — a plea that accepts the punishments of the crimes but does not admit guilt and may avoid civil collateral. 

However, in Idaho, a no contest is not accepted under a guilty plea. Therefore, Slaughter agreed to follow the plea agreement and enter a guilty plea.  

As part of submitting a guilty plea, defendants are asked to explain the crime they committed that aligns with the charges filed against them. When asked to describe the crime related to the attempted strangulation charge, Slaughter said he acted in self-defense and denied putting his hands on the throat of the victim or blocking her airway.  

Questions were raised by Berecz and public defender Sarah Hyde, as Slaughter’s statements were contradictory to the guilty plea he accepted. The court determined that it was necessary to either amend the original pretrial settlement offer to include an Alford plea or to continue the case to trial.  

Slaughter said he was pleading guilty to take advantage of the plea deal but believed that he was innocent. He also noted that he felt “bulldozed by the district attorney’s office” and isolated by his defense attorney, Jay Northam, claiming that several motions he requested were never filed.  

Berecz allowed Northam to shed light on the situation, where he acknowledged the request for motions to be filed but said that the motions wouldn’t provide enough information to squash evidence of the case. He further said that Slaughter’s requests would better align with a civil case instead of a criminal one, if Slaughter decided to pursue it. 

Berecz agreed with Northam’s perspective and noted that Northam was a competent attorney for the case at hand.  

After hearing Slaughter’s concerns, the public defense team agreed to include the option for an Alford plea in the pretrial settlement agreement. An Alford plea acknowledges that there is sufficient evidence that a jury would find the defendant guilty but doesn’t admit any wrongdoing on the defendant's part. It is treated the same as a guilty plea.  

Slaughter ultimately agreed to enter an Alford plea, maintaining that he never strangled the victim. He did admit to injuring a child by punching him in the face.  

His sentencing hearing will take place July 22. 

The charges stem from December 2024 when police officials arrived at a Priest River residence to find Slaughter with a gash on his forehead and several victims who had sustained injuries.   

According to court documents, the victim came home late at night, where she and Slaughter got into a verbal altercation. As the argument escalated, the victim went into her bedroom to avoid the situation getting worse. Slaughter allegedly followed her and began strangling her on the bed, increasing pressure to the point where the victim was unable to breathe or speak.  

The victim’s child was at the residence at the time of the altercation, allegedly witnessing Slaughter attempt to strangle the victim.  

Although a probable cause affidavit doesn’t indicate how the victim got away from Slaughter’s grasp, it does suggest that she was able to get outside to her vehicle and call her aunt. When her aunt and cousin arrived to help, court documents indicate that they were allegedly struck in the face by Slaughter. The court documents contend that the aunt, acting in self-defense, smacked Slaughter in the head with a baseball bat before police arrived at the scene.