BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

LOVELY — A domestic dispute turned violent on Riverfront Road late Sunday night, leaving a Martin County man behind bars on charges of first-degree strangulation and assault.

Deputies responded to the scene at around 10 p.m. to break up a domestic dispute. They found Amos R. Evans, 49, of Lovely, embroiled in an altercation with his wife, Charlotte Jude, beside their van that sat stuck in the driveway.

Jude told officers that a verbal dispute spiraled into violence when Evans grabbed her by the neck and chin and began choking off her air supply for nearly two minutes.

Afterward, Evans, in a fit of rage, busted out the van’s windshield with a metal flashlight before using it to hit Jude on the head three times.

Officers noted a swollen lump on Jude’s head and fresh red marks on her face and neck.

They found the flashlight, which Jude identified, inside the van.

Despite her injuries, Jude declined medical treatment and chose not to file for an emergency protective order.

Evans, meanwhile, was taken into custody, his night ending in handcuffs.