Staff Report

Leyon Joseph Gilliam Jr.

LEESBURG — A Syracuse man was recently arrested after allegedly breaking into a home and battering a woman.

Leyon Joseph Gilliam Jr., 29, 7281 CR 29, Syracuse, is charged with strangulation, residential entry, and domestic battery with a prior conviction enhancement, all level 6 felonies; and domestic battery, a class A misdemeanor.

On Feb. 20, the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office received a report about a domestic incident in Leesburg. Officers were advised that Gilliam had entered a woman’s home, battered her, and left through a bedroom window. Police found footprints in the snow leading from an exterior window.

Inside the home, the deputy noticed broken glass plates on the floor. According to court documents, the woman said that earlier in the evening, Gilliam entered her home uninvited through an unlocked door.

The woman told the deputy that when Gilliam was inside the home, an argument ensued about Gilliam staying there. Gilliam allegedly lunged toward the woman in an aggressive manner and used his hand to grab her around the throat. She was then forced to the kitchen floor. The deputy noticed two small lacerations on the woman’s neck.

Gilliam was previously convicted of domestic battery in the presence of a child in May 2019. The woman battered in that case was the victim in the Feb. 20 incident.

For the Feb. 20 case, Gilliam was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on March 2, with a $16,000 surety and cash bond.