DALLAS — The woman who was beaten by a man in Deep Ellum last month has now been charged with felony criminal mischief for damaging the man's pickup truck after she was punched, officials said.
A judge signed the arrest warrant for L'Daijohnique Lee, 24, on Tuesday afternoon.
The suspect in the assault on Lee, Austin Shuffield, 30, alleged in an earlier arrest warrant affidavit that Lee broke his back windshield with a jump box, a charger for a car battery.
But what is criminal mischief? And why would the case be a felony?
In Texas, criminal mischief ranges from a Class C misdemeanor – the equivalent of a traffic ticket – all the way to a first-degree felony.
In Lee's case, sources told WFAA that police were preparing to charge her with a state jail felony, punishable by up to two years in jail.
The degree of a criminal mischief charge depends on the cost of the alleged damage, along with several other factors.
Here's how the Texas Penal Code breaks it down:
Class C misdemeanor (fine up to $500): Less than $100
Class B misdemeanor (up to 180 days in jail): $100 or more but less than $750
Class A misdemeanor (up to 1 year in jail): $750 or more but less than $2,500
State jail felony (up to 2 years in prison): $2,500 or more but less than $30,000
Third-degree felony (2-10 years in prison): $30,000 or more but less than $150,000
Second-degree felony (2-20 years in prison): $150,000 or more but less than $300,000
First-degree felony (5-99 years in prison): $300,000 or more