A Marysville man has been arrested and indicted, charged with allegedly strangling his girlfriend, telling her the only way she would leave him is “in a body bag.”
The Union County Grand Jury has indicted Shawn Tyler Price, 24, whose last known address is 258 Mill Rd., charging him with two counts of strangulation and one count of domestic violence.
According to court documents, at about 11 p.m., Jan. 17, Price’s live-in girlfriend told him that she wanted to leave him. The pair began to argue and, according to court documents, “after she told Shawn she wanted to leave him, things became physical.”
The woman told police that Price punched her “multiple times” in different areas of her body according to court documents. She told Price to stop multiple times.
“Shawn threw her on the bed and started to strangle her,” according to court documents.
The woman told police she was “struggling to breathe from being strangled.”
She said Price then allegedly covered her mouth and nose with his hands.
The victim told investigators that, “while being choked, Shawn told her, ‘I will kill you before I let you leave.’”
Price also allegedly told the woman “if she leaves, it would be in a body bag.”
The woman was eventually able to get away. She went to the police department the next morning. Police reported that the woman was bruised from where Price allegedly hit her and had a cut on her neck.
Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips was instrumental in getting the state’s strangulation law passed. He has said strangulation is “uniquely dangerous.”
“Strangulation is a particularly lethal form of assault,” Phillips said.
He said blood vessels burst, brain cells die and the victim begins to experience brain injury very quickly.
“Really, in a strangulation event, the victim is quite literally minutes from death,” Phillips said.
He said it can be difficult to quantify how much physical damage is done by strangulation.
He added that “there is a significant risk of injury, not only at the time of the strangulation, but because of the pressure put on the blood vessels, there is a high risk of stroke, even months after.”
As of Friday, Price was still in the Tri-County Regional Jail. He had been released on his own recognizance with an ankle monitor, but was being held for failure to appear and driving under suspension out of Madison County.
If convicted, Price could face as many as five and a half years in prison.
Also indicted was:
– Brittany Deshun Louise Golden, 32, an inmate at Dayton Correctional Institution. Golden is charged with one count of harassment with a bodily substance.
According to court documents, on Oct. 4, Golden was an inmate at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Corrections officers were attempting to move Golden out of the prison infirmary. As they were moving her, Golden allegedly threatened to spit on them if they didn’t take their hands off her.
“They didn’t so she spit,” Phillips said.
Phillips said the corrections officers detailed where they believed Golden spit and had their clothes tested. He said the clothes tested positive for a substance that is a component of bodily fluids.
If convicted, Golden could face 12 months in prison, in addition to the four and a half years she is already serving for burglary and theft convictions out of Franklin County.
– Joseph A. Stiltner, 34, of Columbus. Stiltner is charged with 11 counts of nonsupport of dependents.
Phillips said this is the first felony criminal nonsupport case “in a while.”
According to court documents, Stiltner has not made his support payments for his now 7-year-old child since before the child turned 2.
Phillips said that as of December, Stiltner was more than $20,000 behind in child support.
Officials stress that when a parent fails to provide for their child, it puts additional strain on public resources used to help the child and the other parent.
If convicted, Stiltner could face as many as 11 years in prison.
– Dannielle Annabelle Beyer, 43, of Carroll. Beyer is charged with one count each of aggravated possession of drugs and illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto grounds of a specified governmental facility. According to court documents, on Nov. 18, Beyer allegedly had methamphetamine when she went inside a government facility.
If convicted, Beyer could face as many as six years in prison.