DeSoto teacher charged with aggravated assault after Christmas party incident

Editor's note: The aggravated assault charge against Steven Michael Vinson was dismissed by a judge on Feb. 8, 2023.

DeSoto County School District educator Steven Michael Vinson has been charged with aggravated assault following an incident at a Christmas party in December.

Vinson is listed as a physical education teacher at DeSoto Central Middle School. When asked about Vinson's employment status with the district, a spokesperson said that district officials cannot comment on personnel matters.

Vinson assaulted a man and his wife at an annual Christmas party in Southaven, according to an incident report obtained through a public records request by The Commercial Appeal. Both the husband and wife, whose names were redacted in the report from the Southaven Police Department, and Vinson gave statements to officers confirming an altercation took place.

More:Aggravated assault charge against DeSoto educator dismissed

The husband told police that on Dec. 18, his wife said something to someone else that angered Vinson, who began punching the wife in the face.

When the man diverted Vinson's attention to himself, Vinson began assaulting him, the report said, hitting him with a closed fist and choking him until he lost consciousness. According to the report, the man was taken to Methodist Hospital in Olive Branch and had bruises on his face, marks on his neck, a broken humerus and a possible hairline fractured ankle.

"[Redacted] said that Vinson began punching him in the face multiple times with a closed fist, then got him in a choke hold causing [redacted] to lose consciousness," the statement read. "[Redacted] stated that he did not know how long he was unconscious, but before he blacked out, he was flailing around trying to get free from the choke hold."

Vinson spoke to police on Dec. 19 and said that he had attempted to step in to assist the attacked in a witnessed domestic type of incident and that he had heard they were pursuing charges and he would like to also pursue charges.

The police narrative from that conversation notes that there was a healing bruise under Vinson's eye and that his knuckles were "in the stages of healing where they had lacerations as to suggest he was striking something numerous times."

A warrant with a charge of aggravate assault was issued for Vinson's arrest on Jan. 2. He was arrested on Jan. 8 and released on a $20,000 bond that same day. His preliminary hearing is on Jan. 25.

Vinson was listed as an assistant baseball coach with DeSoto Central, but his name has since been deleted from the website. Vinson graduated from DeSoto Central High school in 2009 and played baseball for four years at Delta State University.

Gina Butkovich covers DeSoto County, storytelling and general news. She can be reached at 901-232-6714.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: desoto County teacher charged with aggravated assault