Report: Assault and Strangulation Charges Against Tayon Holloway Dropped

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A pair of assault and strangulation charges against former Louisville cornerback Tayon Holloway were recently dropped, according to court records and first reported by WDRB's Jason Riley.

Back on Nov. 17, one day removed from Louisville's 38-35 loss at Stanford, Holloway was arrested and charged with fourth degree assault with a minor injury, a misdemeanor, as well as first degree strangulation (domestic violence related), which is a felony.

While these charges were dropped, according to WDRB, Holloway was still convicted of disorderly conduct back on Mar. 27. So long as he follows certain conditions until June 4, this charge will be dismissed and expunged.

According to the police report obtained by Louisville Cardinals On SI at the time of his arrest, officers were dispatched to The Province apartments close to UofL's campus around 9:00 p.m. Sunday night on a call to service on a 911 hang up. While all parties inside of the apartment were "uncooperative," they gave consent for officers to search.

A responding officer noticed that the victim, referred to in the report as Holloway's girlfriend, had "a laceration to her upper lip" and "puffiness of the eyes, "commonly associated with crying." Per the report, the victim stated that Holloway was in his room preparing to smoke marijuana. When she grabbed the marijuana, Holloway "became angry and physical."

The victim stated that Holloway "threw her off of the bed and onto the ground, and began to strike her in the face with a closed fist." The victim then grabbed a nearby lamp in an attempt to protect herself, and after that failed, Holloway "took a pillow and placed it over her face" for approximately 10 seconds.

Per the report, after Holloway removed the pillow, he "began to throw her out of the room and started pushing and shoving her" towards the apartment exit. During this, the victim also used a mirror to protect herself, which was broken in the process.

Holloway was indefinitely suspended from the Cardinals shortly afterwards, and has not been with the team since. Louisville has been going through spring practice since early March.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback had been a key part of Louisville's secondary last season. Playing in the first 10 games while making three starts, Holloway tallied 16 tackles, two for loss, six pass breakups and a sack.

Holloway also played an unfortunate role in Louisville's stunning upset loss to the Cardinal. On the first play of Stanford's final drive, Holloway was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct following a short throw with just four seconds left in the game. This, combined with a subsequent offsides penalty by Quincy Riley, allowed Stanford to get in better position to kick the game-winning 52-yard field goal.

The Virginia Beach, Va. native joined Louisville last offseason after spending his first two years in college at North Carolina. After redshirting his true freshman campaign in 2022, Holloway played in 10 total games along with six starts for the Tar Heels in 2023, logging 19 total tackles, 1.5 for loss and one pass breakup.

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