WILSON COUNTY, TN — A Tennessee appellate court has affirmed the conviction of a Wilson County man who was found guilty of aggravated domestic assault involving a violent altercation with his estranged wife during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The case, rooted in a physical attack that occurred in March 2020, involved the use of a heavy wrought iron barstool and emotional testimony from the victim, a healthcare worker and mother of three. The defendant's appeal—challenging the barstool’s classification as a deadly weapon—was officially denied earlier this month, on June 5, 2025.
The incident occurred in Wilson County and resulted in a September 2020 indictment. According to testimony presented at the initial August 2022 trial, the victim, who had just completed a late night shift as a physician assistant in an emergency room located in the Middle Tennessee area, says she was told by her husband to spend the night in a hotel due to his concerns over COVID-19 exposure to their children. An hour into her stay at the hotel, the woman received a call from her husband telling her she was a horrible mother for continuing to work in the healthcare industry, due to a rising fear of COVID-19. He then demanded that she return home.
Once at home, a verbal argument escalated into physical violence within moments of her return. The victim testified her husband was irate upon her arrival, accusing her of endangering their children. She described how he threw a snare drum and then hurled a wrought iron barstool at her from close range. The barstool struck her, knocking her to the ground, at which point he struck her in the face and told her, “I should bloody your face so you can’t go to work tomorrow… If you don’t leave, I’ll kill you.”
The woman managed to flee and lock herself in her car to call 911.
The barstool, described as four feet tall and made of wood and heavy wrought iron, became central to the trial, with prosecutors arguing it met the legal definition of a deadly weapon—not because of its design, but due to how it was used by the angered spouse. Court documents released with the denial of the appeal earlier this month showed, “Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, we conclude that a rational juror could have reasonably found that the Defendant intended to cause death or serious bodily injury when he “hurled” a wrought iron barstool at the victim from only a few feet away. The jury’s finding of guilt in this case is supported by the additional evidence that the Defendant did so after having failed to hit the victim with his drum equipment and while verbally berating her. Once the victim was on the ground, the Defendant proceeded to hit her in the face with his fist and threatened to kill her.”
While the defense argued that the object wasn’t deadly per se and claimed the intent behind its use was not to cause serious injury, the appellate court sided with the jury’s original assessment. The opinion noted that objects not inherently designed to inflict harm may still qualify as deadly weapons depending on how they’re used. In this case, the court found that throwing such a heavy object from mere feet away, followed by threats and a punch to the face, constituted sufficient evidence of intent to inflict serious bodily injury.
The victim’s own words carried emotional complexity. Though she stood by her account of the assault, she had also written a letter to the District Attorney’s Office suggesting the defendant’s actions were driven in part by mental health struggles and fear during the early uncertainty of the pandemic. She speculated that the barstool may have been used as a barrier rather than a weapon. The jury, however, was instructed to evaluate that letter as a personal belief—not a definitive statement of the accused’s intent—and ultimately rejected the defense’s narrative.
The appellate ruling, issued by Judge Kyle A. Hixson of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, found that “a rational juror could have reasonably found that the Defendant intended to cause death or serious bodily injury when he hurled a wrought iron barstool at the victim from only a few feet away.”
This case shows how complex domestic violence situations can be and gives the public a look into the life of a healthcare worker who experienced abuse in her home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The original trial and the appeal that followed also highlight how easily abusers can twist everyday situations into acts of violence. In this case, the medical worker’s husband was sentenced to five years of supervised probation — a sentence that still stands today after a higher court upheld the original trial's decision.
The identity of the convicted abuser is not being disclosed in this article to protect the privacy of the victim after she was impacted by domestic violence while working in the healthcare field during the pandemic.
