A living nightmare.
Respondent found my address online in the Montgomery County Court System from a speeding ticket I attended court for on July 19, 2010. He taunted me that he found my address and knew where I lived - he was trying to scare me because when I left him 18 months ago, I moved several times in attempts to evade being found. I went into hiding and he has always tried to find out where I was living. I did not give those comments/ taunts any attention or response.
When picking up the child (Benjamin) on Sunday night (August 8, 2010), Respondent was belligerent and would not take the separation/ divorce agreement that we had drawn up because he believed I was pregnant due to comment he saw online. (The comment did not actually indicate I am pregnant but he would not relent from his supposition that I am.) He told me to shred the agreement and that he would fight me to no end, that his son would not be raised around whatever “demon spawn” I was carrying in my womb. My father and best friend were present at the exchange otherwise I can imagine it would have been far less civil on his end.
Respondent told me via text an hour after I picked up the child from his residence and stated that he did not want any more communication other than over the phone. When I asked why, he clarified that he did not want any documentation/ recording of his words. Around 1:20am late Sunday night/ early Monday morning (August 9, 2010), I started receiving non-stop phone calls from Respondent. He sent a Yahoo Mail Message chat that since I would not answer my phone he would be leaving and over to my house in 45 minutes. At this, I placed a call to the Fairfax County Police. The calls from Respondent continued to come in. I did not respond to any calls, texts or messages. I logged something like 60 calls in a couple hours.
The officer arrived and instructed me to answer a call to tell him to stop calling in the middle of the night or it would be considered harassment. I agreed to do so via speaker phone in the presence of the officer. Respondent was again belligerent, verbally abusive, cussing, name calling, accusing; I could barely get a word in edgewise. I did manage to tell him to stop calling or I would consider it harassment; He laughed and continued his rampage. The officer took the phone and spoke with Respondent; who continued to rage to the officer for several minutes before hanging up on the officer. It was at this time, we believe, he made phone calls to my best friend (22 times in a short period of time) and father and continued calling me. He left a voicemail for both my father and me, stating that he was standing in front of his apartment with a machete ready for the police to come and that he would rush the police with his weapon and end it all.
He continued to call and about 20 minutes after he hung up on the police, I picked up and placed him again on speaker phone. He was growling and grunting - speaking about “gutting” both Steve and I and “eating our intestines”. He stated several times that he would murder us in a grizzly fashion and make us suffer. When I informed him that he was saying all of this in front of a police officer, he didn’t believe me. He went on to say that if he had the chance, he would raise our son to hate “niggers” and all people who are in wheel chairs because all people in wheel chairs are “faggots”. (I have since learned from his best friend, also my Uncle, that he was a white supremacist and very interested in Nazism. This is news to me but makes a lot of sense looking back.) When I warned him that I could no longer let his son be in his care after all of this and asked him to remember his son and his love for his son, he responded his “hatred was far more important than his love for his son would ever be”. As soon as he said that, I hung up.
The office left shortly after witnessing that phone call, thinking the Respondent probably too drunk to actually drive from Gaithersburg, Maryland to our residence in Herndon, Virginia at 3:30am, to file for a warrant for his arrest. The officer informed us that there was not much else they could do until the Respondent actually did something and that if he did come over or strongly indicate he would be here to call 911 immediately.
About an hour after the officer left, we heard the bang at the door. I immediately called 911. Respondent banged and kicked at the front door of our apartment furiously and then went around to the patio door, which is all glass. I checked on the baby; he was awake but staying very still in his bed. His door was cracked (he’ll have it no other way and closing the door or removing him from the room put him in the way of the impending crime and I thought it best to have him in there); I knew the child sensed the danger. Respondent took his weapon (an extendable police baton) and shattered the door within seconds. He entered through the shattered door. He walked towards me - I had a knife I retrieved from the kitchen in my hand and he just stared at me and followed me as I backed my way to the front door. He saw Steve - my boyfriend, who is wheelchair bound - as he passed one of the bedrooms. Steve was hiding with a hammer in hand. Respondent stopped and approached Steve. I ran out the front door to get help and look for the police and keep an eye on the apartment from the outside. After a few minutes, Respondent showed up outside and saw me and yelled “Get the fuck back here” and started to run after me. I ran towards the apartment gates and heard the sirens from the police cars. I ran to my right, towards the street/ the first police cruiser I saw. Respondent ran right through an apartment hallway to meet me on the other side of the building and trap me but ended up in front of the cruiser I ran to. The officer ordered me to get back to the apartment and apprehended Respondent at gunpoint.
I ran back to the apartment, terrified that Steve was fatally wounded. I screamed for Steve and ran, without thought, barefooted over the shattered glass through the back door to get to him. He was covered in blood, sitting outside the front door, waiting for me or police to get to him. He had been beaten with the police baton approximately 40 times. Respondent was trying to smash his head but Steve blocked it with his arms. Steve picked up a hammer to defend himself with but the hammer split in half from the blows of the baton weapon the Respondent used. His arms and hands were badly beaten, swollen, cut and bruised. He has extensive deep tissue bruising, a broken finger and a broken hand. He also has several stitches in different places and a couple staples in his head.
Respondent was apprehended/ arrested by police and is currently being held without bond. Steve is unable to use his hands or arms as a result of Respondent beating them so badly. Steve is/ has always been wheelchair bound - and is disabled from the waist down. He needs 24 hour care and physical therapy. He cannot work. We are both very jumpy and cautious. We have replaced the shattered door and cleaned the blood off the ceiling, walls and carpets.
Respondent had no concern for his child witnessing the events or a possible murder scene. He was trying to kill Steve by beating him in the head and he was trying to kill me. He stated that was his goal and he came to achieve that. Thank God he did not.
On several occasions, the Respondent called me names such as “whore”, “cunt” and the like. He engaged in physical and verbal violence in front of his child often. He used racial slurs and horrible language in front of the child. He referred to Steve as “crip” to friends and to me on several occasions. He would ask, in detail about sexual things involving me and Steve - always referencing Steve’s disability. In short, he used very disturbing language which always made me very sad to have my son raised by someone like that.
Respondent lost his job of 7 years in January of 2009 for making a violent threat against an employee. Because the employer could not prove the threat, Respondent received unemployment for 18 months. He did not make any efforts to look for a job during that time. In spring of 2009, he was nearly evicted for a disturbance of the peace at his residence; He had the child the night this happened. Respondent was apparently drunk and threatened a neighbor who complained about the noise, telling the neighbor he would kill him and his girlfriend. He was finally evicted from his residence on December 6, 2009 for non-payment of rent.
Homeless and jobless, he had exhausted his parents and family and had nowhere to go. My Grandmother offered to allow him to stay with her if he got on his feet. (Part of her motivation was a chance to see her great-grandson every weekend.) He moved in with her on December 6, 2009. He did not look for a job, help around the house or pay any rent, even though he received more than $1600/ month, which is more than twice what my Grandmother makes. He would not comply with her requests, like turning off lights and TV when he left the room. He stayed up all night playing online video games and slept until noon or later nearly every day. The last straw was that he choked her dog (a mini poodle) one day while she was out. The violence turned the whites of the dog’s eyes to completely blood red for over a week. When speaking about my Grandmother, he used derogatory names for her and generally spoke very disrespectfully of her.
Respondent did not seek education of any kind. He cannot spell or write well and refused to motivate, no matter how much help he was offered. After he was kicked out of my Grandmother’s residence in March of 2010, she found several bottles of Kentucky Gentleman Bourbon and empty cases of beer among the other trash and unkempt basement room Respondent stayed in.
My Grandmother and father bought him an inexpensive but sufficient car to use and when he was kicked out of my Grandmother’s, he took the car and unlawfully kept it, refusing to contact her to do any title work or get any insurance for the car. He retained a speeding camera ticket - of course the car is in her name - and refused to pay her or answer her phone calls. The week of this incident, she was about to report the car stolen and to get the car back.
There are many more incidents which show the Respondent’s inability to recognize or attempt to rehabilitate his abusive and sick behavior. I desperately do not want him around me or my son. I hope this affidavit will help aide in retaining the protection we need from him. He is a living nightmare.