Source: CBS This Morning / CBS This Morning
Yesterday, we reported a clip from an interview with CBS This Morning and Alleah Taylor, the ex girlfriend of former Seattle Seahawks player Chad Wheeler.
As we’ve reported earlier, Wheeler allegedly choked Taylor until she was unconscious after she refused to bow to him.
Now, not even a month after the violent incident, Taylor, who appeared with her arm in a sling, is telling her story. She told journalist Jericka Duncan, that her relationship with Wheeler was going very well in the six months they had been dating. She said they barely ever argued.
“We were like best friends. We did everything together. I even introduced him to my family. We would babysit my nephew together. “
But things took a drastic turn on January 22. Taylor said that she noticed a change in Wheeler when he texted her saying he had shaved his head.
“He loved, just loved his long hair, refused to cut it. And it surprised me and wondered me. I came home and Chad was trying to play it off as if he just kind of cut his hair. But as time went on, throughout the day, he started going down hill emotionally.”
Taylor later told police she believed this was the beginning of Wheeler’s manic episode.
Taylor, who knew Wheeler suffered from bipolar disorder, said that eventually he snapped into a dark place.
“He stood up and told me to bow down. And I asked him why. He didn’t respond, he just told me to bow down again. I told him no and he immediately grabbed my neck. That’s when things began. When he grabbed my neck, he threw me on the bed. And I remember looking up at him and saying, ‘Please stop Chad, it’s me.’ I just immediately knew—the look in his eyes—that was it.”
Taylor said that while Wheeler was choking her she blacked out twice.
When she did regain consciousness, she said, “I looked down and there was blood on my hand.”
That’s when she got up and ran to the bathroom.
Wheeler, who had left the bed, where he was choking Taylor, heard her get up. Taylor said he turned away from his smoothie to say, “Wow, you’re still alive.”
She made it to the bathroom where she was able to call the police, her mother and Wheeler’s father.
When asked if she believed Wheeler’s behavior was connected to a mental health issue, she said, “To be honest, I don’t know. He went and ate dinner after doing this to me and he didn’t take the same approach with the cops as he did with me.”
During his trial, Taylor appeared in court. She told Duncan it was important for her to be there because, “I didn’t want him to think that he had that power over me, that I wasn’t going to defend myself. And I thought, how easy would that be for him and his legal team to be able to say whatever they want without having to look me in the eye.”
Taylor, who will have to live the rest of her life with bolts in her body, believes Wheeler should serve prison time for what he did to her.
“I have to say, that hardest part wasn’t the surgeries, it wasn’t any of that. It was getting a call from my niece and nephews. They thought they had lost me. And the pain in their voice. I will never forget that. I will never forget that.”
In terms of why she’s speaking out, Taylor said she’s grateful to be alive and believes that God has blessed her with another chance.
“I want to use the time that I’ve been blessed with to help other people, to get this story out, to make sure other people don’t feel alone and make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Wheeler’s trial is set to take place in April. If convicted, Wheeler faces 8-12 years in prison.
You can watch the full interview in the video below.
