Huntington Police Detective Chris Sperry, left, escorts Marshall University running back Steward Butler into Cabell County Magistrate Court on Wednesday, May 6, 2015. Butler stands charged with battery in April’s beating of a same-sex couple.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall University dismissed running back Steward Butler on Wednesday afternoon, hours after he was arrested on charges that he beat two gay men.
Butler, 23, of Lakeland, Florida, is charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery. He turned himself in Wednesday morning to the Huntington Police Department and declined comment afterward when questioned by reporters at arraignment.
The charges stem from the April 5 beating of Zackary Johnson and Casey Williams, moments after they kissed at 5th Avenue and 9th Street in Huntington.
Williams, 20, of Ironton, recalled hearing a series of derogatory slurs from a vehicle nearby. Butler then exited the vehicle and struck the face of both victims with a closed fist, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday…
