The Austin Police Department has issued an arrest warrant for a man suspected of assaulting University of Mississippi senior Carson Otter in downtown Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013.
Joshua M. Ramirez, 25, has been charged with aggravated assault with severe bodily injury, a second-degree felony. His bond has been set at $10,000, according to the police department.
Ramirez’s warrant was filed Tuesday, Nov. 26 in Travis County, according to the Austin Police Department website.
Otter was in Austin at the time of the accident for the Ole Miss vs. Texas football game. According to the initial incident report released by the Austin Police Department, authorities were dispatched to Trinity and East 7th streets in response to an emergency call around 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 14.
The report states there was a verbal disturbance between Otter and some men in a passing car. A passenger in the car, who police now believe to be Ramirez, got out of the vehicle and hit Otter once, knocking him unconscious with a skull fracture. The suspect(s) then returned to the vehicle and left the scene.
After having emergency brain surgery, Otter spent more than two weeks recovering at University Medical Center Brackenridge and at Central Texas Rehabilitation Hospital. Withdrawing from classes for the fall semester, Otter returned home to Bloomington, Ind., in early October to start physical training along with speech therapy and cognitive training.
Otter is expected to return to classes at the University of Mississippi for the spring 2014 semester, according to Dean of Students Sparky Reardon.
“It is evident how much he loves Ole Miss,” Reardon said. “I know that Carson’s family has been a great support to him and this development has to be encouraging as Carson continues his recuperation.”
-Caty Cambron
thedmnews@gmail.com
