Maryland football player receives probation after state defends extended jail stay

University of Maryland cornerback Dontay Joyner was sentenced on Wednesday to three years of supervised probation after threatening to kill his girlfriend and calling her 92 times in five days, with prosecutors describing him as a danger to the victim and the community.

“The language used was incredibly offensive, incredibly distasteful, incredibly inappropriate,” Judge Kerwin Miller said during the sentencing, after Joyner pleaded guilty to telephone misuse and electronic communications harassment.

Telephone misuse comes with a maximum sentence of three years in jail in Maryland. It is defined by someone making “repeated calls with the intent to annoy, abuse, torment, harass, or embarrass” another person.

The case drew increased attention after Joyner’s lawyer, former Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, said holding the 21-year old in jail over two misdemeanors was a civil rights violation akin to “Mississippi in the 1950s.”

Joyner spent 27 days in jail without bail after being arrested on June 11.

State’s Attorney Alison Healey said that in her long history of handling domestic violences cases, “these messages and the defendant’s behavior in this case are among the worst I have ever seen.”

The Banner is not naming the woman because she was the target of the alleged threats and harassment.

Joyner’s charges stem from a five-day period in early June when his girlfriend wanted to break up with him, according to court documents. He responded by repeatedly threatening to “shoot and kill her,” the documents state. At one point, he texted the woman that he would “come pierce a bullet through you,” the state said.

Over the five-day period, Joyner called the woman 92 times, according to the state, and the prosecution submitted 39 pages of text messages. The woman continuously asked Joyner to stop contacting her. She warned him that she would call the police or Maryland’s football staff.

The arguments escalated until June 11, when Joyner drove from his home in Laurel to his girlfriend’s house in Edgewood. Along the 50-minute drive, Joyner continued to text the woman and threatened to “murder her, to kill her, to slap the fuck out of her, all while he’s driving,” the state said in a hearing.

The woman called the police and Joyner was arrested near her home shortly after 5 a.m., according to court documents.

After the arrest, Joyner again called the victim, violating a no-contact order from a Harford County judge. Joyner’s mother was involved in a three-way call between Joyner and the victim while he was in jail.

Gansler told reporters that Joyner’s long confinement was a civil rights violation, though he did not plan to file suit.

“Being held for 27 days in jail for misdemeanor misuse of a telephone is unprecedented in Harford County and throughout the state of Maryland. It would not be unprecedented in Mississippi in the 1950s,” Gansler said, adding that his client was denied due process.

Healey denied handling the case differently.

“It is the normal way [to handle it] when you’re trying to kill somebody,” Healy said. “What should the police do? Wait and see if you’re going to do it first to put somebody in jail? Should we wait until [the victim] is dead before we do something? No.”

Joyner’s mother and the victim both spoke in support of him at the hearing in the Harford County District Court, asking the judge not to give him jail time. The state pressed for nine months in jail.

“These text messages are not the full representation of Dontay and I’s relationship,” the victim said. “This shows a very small time in our relationship when we had not been getting along. We are a young couple trying to navigate that. He knows what he said was inappropriate. I wish I knew he needed help. I don’t think that [jail] is the way to get him help.”

His mother added: “He was wrong for saying what he said. All he wants to do is to play football and go to school. He’s learned his lesson. He’s been sitting in jail for 27 days.”

Joyner was ordered not to contact the victim and to enter Maryland’s Abuse and Intervention Program.

Joyner said he wanted to continue his career with the Terps this season.

Maryland has not responded to a request for comment on Joyner’s standing with the team.

Joyner, a Florida native who transferred from Arkansas State prior to last season, started 12 games and was an honorable mention on the Big Ten’s all-conference team. He’s projected as a fringe NFL Draft prospect in 2027, possibly a late-round pick. He recorded two interceptions and 29 solo tackles in 2025.