AUSTIN — The University of Texas professor who pleaded guilty to a domestic violence incident from 2016 -- causing outrage among parents for the school's "lack of action" -- has died, KVUE's and the Austin American-Statesman's Tony Plohetski confirmed.
Richard Morrisett, 57, was found dead in his home April 5, according to Plohetski. The cause of death has not been released yet.
Morrisett pleaded guilty to a felony charge of strangling his girlfriend to the point that she saw "stars," KVUE's news partners at the Statesman originally reported. The incident happened off-campus, but a coalition of UT parents called SafeHorns believed university leaders should have disciplined the tenured professor.
While a student said she did not agree with what he did, she's sad to hear about his death.
"It's just really sad and I hope everyone learns from this and gets to move on and learns, 'Yeah we can move past it' or you know, make changes so that won't happen again," said Courtney Bates, a student.
The university is also speaking out about Morrisett's death, calling it a tragedy.
"We are really viewing this as a tremendous tragedy," said Shilpa Bakre with the University of Texas. "At this point, we're not really focused on the protests and things that surrounded (him). We're focused on the fact that there was a loss of life."
She went onto say, "these are challenging times on campus and so as a university we're really trying to come together to provide as much support as possible to the faculty, staff and students as they work through this process."
Morrisett served as a professor with the College of Pharmacy. He had been with the university since 1997.
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Morrisett's criminal case prompted a new policy at UT. UT President Greg Fenves announced in a letter Thursday that school employees who commit crimes off campus could be subject to discipline, even if officials find they are no threat to campus safety, security or other operations.
UT President Greg Fenves released a statement regarding the professor's death Friday:
Professor Morrisett’s death is a tragedy. We support his family and loved ones as they grieve during this time. We recognize these are difficult times on campus and the university will offer all the support we can to students, faculty and staff members.