Former Deep Ellum Bartender Austin Shuffield Convicted of Simple Assault and Obstruction

A former Deep Ellum bartender has been convicted for attacking a woman almost four years ago.

A Dallas County jury found Austin Garrett Shuffield, 34, guilty of simple assault and obstruction and acquitted him of an aggravated assault charge in connection with the 2019 attack on L’Daijohnique Lee, according to Dallas County court records.

The incident occurred on March 21, 2019. Lee and Shuffield got into a heated argument in an Elm Street parking lot near the High and Tight Barbershop. Initially, Dallas police arrested Lee and charged her with felony criminal mischief for knocking out the windshield of Shuffield's car, but a cell phone video  showed Shuffield assaulting Lee and brandishing a .45 Glock from his waistband. The video shows Shuffield tried to slap a phone out of Lee's hands as she called out for help.

Lee tried to slap Shuffield and Shuffield responded by punching her at least five times in the face, producing audible groans from the people filming the incident.

Shuffield made a plea deal with prosecutors in which he received a suspended sentence of 120 days in jail and 2 years supervision on the the assault charge. He was sentenced to an additional 5.5 years of probation for obstruction.

Dallas police initially charged Shuffield with public intoxication and one count each of interfering with an emergency call and misdemeanor assault.

The video of the assault created a wave of backlash on social media that lasted for two days and forced the temporary closure of High and Tight Barbershop and Bar, now named Cross Faded Barbershop, where Shuffield worked near the scene of the assault. A live music bar, which is hidden behind the barbershop in the style of a speakeasy, also issued a statement online at the time announcing Shuffield's firing and that it was "in no way okay with what Austin Shuffield has done."

Shuffield told Dallas Police investigators that he slapped the phone out of Lee's hands because he thought she was trying to bring more people to shoot him. Lee testified that she was trying to call the police and her brother for protection "because I was scared, I was terrified," according to video from WFAA-TV (Channel 8).

"Nobody was outside with me," she said. "My friend left me. She went inside the room. Who else could I call? He's already on the phone with the police. I have a brother, like, that's another man. I just needed somebody else with me. I was by myself."

A few days later, Dallas police announced they would drop the charges against Lee and seek more serious charges against Shuffield, including a second-degree felony count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a Class A misdemeanor count of unlawfully carrying a weapon. A district judge disqualified the Dallas County District Attorney's Office from overseeing the case and appointed a special prosecutor in its place after Shuffield's attorneys filed a motion alleging bias against the office's handling of the case.

Lee teared up on the witness stand as she testified last week in Shuffield's court case. She said she believed that her life was in danger and that she could not physically inflict the damage Shuffield inflicted on her.

"I don't think nobody deserves to get done like that," Lee said during examination by Dallas County special prosecutor Russell Wilson.