On August 21, 2005, Phillips was arrested for assault after allegedly driving a car into three teenagers, following a dispute with the teens during a pick-up football game in Los Angeles, California. At the time of the arrest, Phillips was also wanted by the San Diego Police Department in connection with two alleged domestic-abuse incidents involving a former girlfriend,[1] who claimed that Phillips had choked her to the point of unconsciousness. In addition, the Los Angeles Police Department was seeking Phillips in connection with another allegation of domestic abuse that had occurred in Los Angeles. In March 2006, Phillips was ordered to stand trial on charges of felony assault with a deadly weapon stemming from the August 21, 2005, incident. On October 10, 2006, he was found guilty of seven counts. On October 3, 2008, he was sentenced to 10 years in a California state prison.[citation needed]
While serving that sentence, Philips was convicted in August 2009 for the assault on his former girlfriend Amaliya Weisler [22]on seven counts, including assault with great bodily injury, false imprisonment, making a criminal threat, and auto theft.[23] On December 18, 2009, Phillips was sentenced to 25 years in prison on the 2009 convictions, to run consecutive to the 2008 sentence (which was reduced to just under 7 years), for a term of 32 years.[1][24]
Phillips was admitted to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on October 16, 2008 and was incarcerated at Kern Valley State Prison.[25] Under California law, since his crimes harmed other persons, Phillips was required to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for time off.
Alleged murder and death
On April 12, 2015, Phillips' cellmate Damion Soward,[26] the cousin of former USC Trojan and NFL wide receiver R. Jay Soward, was found dead in the cell the two men shared. Soward, who was serving a sentence of 82-to-life for a murder conviction,[27] was choked to death, and Phillips was regarded as the prime suspect in the case.
On September 1, 2015, Phillips was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Soward's death.[28] On November 9, 2015, the prosecutor was granted a motion to reconsider whether to seek the death penalty.[29] Philips was awaiting trial and in segregated custody at Kern Valley State Prison when he was found unresponsive in his cell by prison guards around midnight on January 12, 2016, and pronounced dead at 1:30 AM, in what is suspected as a suicide. The day before Phillips died, a judge had ruled that there was enough evidence to bind Phillips over for trial in the murder of Soward.[30][31]
