Ex-DeKalb superintendent called 911 after altercation with wife

According to the incident report, Horton was expecting the mother of his daughter and his sister to send him money so he could take his children to Chuck E. Cheese. Horton told officers that his wife was upset about the idea of his child’s mother sending money and accused him of lying. They began arguing about it.

During the dispute, Horton told officers his wife slapped him in the face, and told him she was “the only one present for him during his difficult times.” Horton was indicted in October on federal charges in Illinois related to an alleged kickback scheme at his old job.

He told officers he tried to walk away from his wife, but she followed him. That’s when he said he “pushed Ms. Horton by the neck to get her out of his way,” the report states. He said his hand was around her neck for about three seconds.

But his wife told officers Horton grabbed her by the neck and applied pressure for about 10 seconds, during which she almost lost consciousness. Officers did not observe any visible injuries on her neck.

In the 911 call, Horton calmly talked to the operator while his wife sometimes interjected in the background. Children’s voices can also be heard.

“My wife upstairs got physical with me, punching me and would not let me walk down the stairs,” Horton told the 911 operator.

Later in the eight-minute call, Horton said he pushed his wife up against the fridge because she kept trying to hit him.

At one point, the operator asked if his wife was strangled or choked. She can be heard in the background saying that she was “choked out” and denying that she hit Horton.

Horton made the call at 11:30 a.m. Officers arrived 15 minutes later. At 1:38 p.m. Horton was booked into the DeKalb County Jail on charges of aggravated assault/strangulation and child cruelty in the third degree, according to court records. He reported to the 911 operator that his children, ages 3 and 5, were present in the home.

His wife told officers that the couple had never experienced an incident like this one before, and this was the first time she’d seen Horton behave that way, according to the report.

“He’s not a violent person I just feel he’s under a lot of stress,” she said at his bond hearing. Channel 2 Action News reported that she asked the judge to let him come back home.

Horton was released on Monday after posting $27,700 in bond, court records show. He was released on the condition that he have no in-person contact with his wife, his attorney told the AJC. Horton is allowed to communicate with his wife through other means and is allowed to visit and spend time with his children.

“As was made clear at the bond hearing, Ms. Horton is not fearful of her husband, and Dr. Horton’s wife and family are supportive of him,” La’Vergne said in an email to the AJC. “Dr. Horton maintains his innocence and is presumed innocent at this stage of the proceedings.”

Horton was hired to lead the state’s third-largest school district in 2023. He resigned in October after a federal indictment accused Horton of steering district contracts in the Evanston-Skokie School District 65 outside of Chicago to his longtime friends, then getting about $85,000 in kickbacks from the contracts between 2020 and 2023.

Horton pleaded not guilty to those charges.