A Warsaw man was arrested after being accused of strangling and beating his pregnant girlfriend and preventing her from calling police.
Jeffrey J. Shelton Jr., 35, of 35 Fairlane Drive, was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail at 1:36 p.m. Wednesday and faces charges of domestic battery to a pregnant woman, a level 5 felony; criminal confinement, a level 5 felony; domestic battery with a child under 16 present, a level 6 felony; strangulation, a level 6 felony; domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor; and interference with the reporting of a crime, a Class A misdemeanor.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed June 26 in Kosciusko Superior Court III, the victim went to the lobby of Warsaw Police Department on June 14 to report the alleged crimes. She told police she was 32 weeks pregnant with Shelton’s child and that Shelton shoved her into a doorframe, then onto a couch and hit her on the side of her head. The woman told police she told Shelton to stop because of the baby and Shelton said, “he might as well get a knife and kill both her and the baby,” according to court papers.
The woman told police she tried to call 911 but Shelton took the phone away and removed the battery. She tried to yell out the back door for help but Shelton grabbed her from behind and pulled her back into the home, the affidavit states. Shelton also prevented her from trying to leave through the front door and then proceeded to hit her on her head three more times before choking her to the point she could not breathe.
Two minor children were in the home at the time of the incident, according to court papers, and Shelton’s mother confirmed to police her son had prevented the woman from calling police or leaving the residence.
A warrant was issued for Shelton’s arrest July 11. He’s being held on an $11,000 bond.
