A Texas man is facing manslaughter charges after admitting to accidentally choking his girlfriend to death during an act of erotic asphyxiation. Local law enforcement in Harris County responded to a medical emergency report on March 21, around 2:20 a.m., at an address in Channelview, Texas. Upon arrival, officers discovered 27-year-old DeJe Garett-Hillard unresponsive. She was immediately transported to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
During the subsequent investigation, the victim’s boyfriend, 27-year-old Jaaron Thomas, told deputies that the couple was engaging in erotic asphyxiation, a sexual practice involving the intentional restriction of air supply to the brain to enhance arousal.
Tragically, Garett-Hillard became unresponsive during the act, leading to her death by asphyxia. The criminal complaint, as reported by The New York Post, states that Thomas “unlawfully” and “recklessly” caused his girlfriend’s death by “applying pressure to the neck and throat of DeJe Garett-Hillard with his hands and impeding her breath.”
Texas man confesses to strangling girlfriend to death during sex ???? pic.twitter.com/LntLP2RETV
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) March 24, 2023
On March 23, Thomas posted a $40,000 bond and was released from custody. Prosecutors requested that the judge impose several bond conditions, including prohibiting contact with the victim’s family, possession of firearms, and consumption of drugs or alcohol. Thomas is scheduled to appear in court on May 17. The New York Post also revealed that Thomas had been previously arrested in November 2021 on a charge of soliciting prostitution, which was later dismissed.
A 2021 study published in the Arizona State Law Journal estimated that between 500 and 1,000 individuals die each year in the United States due to autoerotic asphyxiation. Federal circuit courts have debated whether such deaths should be considered accidents for the purposes of accidental death insurance.
