AUSTIN, Texas – Former basketball coach of the UA Little Rock Trojans Chris Beard was fired from his position at the University of Texas for domestic violence charges he was arrested for in December.

Beard was arrested by Austin police at around 4 a.m. on Dec. 12 for allegedly choking and hitting his fiancée, subsequently being suspended without pay it was announced Thursday that he was fired.

In a statement reported by KXAN, Texas Athletics Director Del Conte announced that Beard was fired as University of Texas’ head men’s basketball coach.

This has been a difficult situation that we’ve been diligently working through. Today I informed Mr. Beard of our decision to terminate him effective immediately. We thank Coach Rodney Terry for his exemplary leadership both on and off the court at a time when our team needed it most. We are grateful he will remain the acting head coach for the remainder of the season. We are proud of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, who throughout this difficult time have continued to make us proud to be Longhorns,”

Texas Athletics Director Del Conte

Since Beard’s suspension, Associate Head Coach Rodney Terry had been acting as head coach for Longhorn’s basketball coach.

Beard was previously the head coach for the UA Little Rock Trojans Men’s Basketball team for the 2015-2016 season. He led the team to 30-5 for his only season there and was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year.