Man convicted of choking woman unconscious, sentenced to 26 months in prison, suspended on probation | News, Sports, Jobs

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Austin Wayne Kidder

An Olathe man received a more than two-year suspended prison sentence after a Douglas County jury found him guilty earlier this year of choking a woman and destroying her cellphone so that she can't call for help.

Judge Amy Hanley on Thursday sentenced Austin Wayne Kidder, 32, to 26 months for aggravated domestic battery, the maximum allowed under Kansas sentencing guidelines, and six months in the Kansas State Jail. Douglas County for criminal damage to property. However, she suspended the sentence at 24 months of probation and had the damages sentence run concurrently, as requested by Assistant Prosecutor Madeline Bjorklun and in accordance with state sentencing guidelines, which list crimes as presumptive probation.

At her trial in February, a woman testified that during an argument in August 2022, Kidder grabbed her by the neck, dropped her to the ground and choked her until she lost awareness. The woman said she thought she was going to die, according to court records. After the attack, she grabbed her phone to call 911, but Kidder smashed the phone on the ground, she said. Police came to the woman's aid after a neighbor heard the noise and called 911.

Hanley noted during Kidder's sentencing hearing that he had recently been convicted of injuring the same victim in another county.

On April 1, he pleaded no contest to aggravated battery and theft for events that occurred in October 2022 in Johnson County.

“It's quite concerning that this happened twice with the same person,” Hanley said, imploring Kidder to take the treatment program and other conditions of his probation sentence seriously.