By Joe Johnson
A man was arrested at his home in eastside Athens after he allegedly attacked his uncle with a large stick.
Christopher Scott Martin, 40, already had a criminal
case of battery against his 63-year-old uncle pending at the time of last week’s incident.
For the latest incident, officers responded at about 3:30 p.m. September 24 to Legacy of Athens apartments off Gaines School Road where both the offender and victim live on a report that an assault had occurred.
They arrived to find Jeffrey Martin bleeding from gashes on his arm, from which skin had also been peeled.
He told the officers that that he had “told off” his nephew, who then left to get a large stick, and
when he returned Christopher attacked.
Jeffrey said that he was able to get an arm up to shield his head, but he was struck repeatedly by the stick on the arm and back, according to police. His phone was damaged by the stick.
When police arrived, Christopher did not admit to having been involved in any altercation.
He told officers that he had been upstairs when he heard his uncle calling for help, and upon going to see what happened, he “saw (Jeffrey) bleeding, so he cleaned him up and the stuff around him,” according to a police incident report.
“At no time did he call 911 or do any other act to help him, but (only) cleaned up evidence of the attack,” the report noted.
Christopher was arrested for aggravated assault and criminal damage to property, and the next day he was denied bail by a judge during a hearing.
In the previous incident with his uncle, he was arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge in December 2022 for allegedly striking and scratching Jeffrey, according to court records.
The case appeared to be heading toward trial when in February of this year, the county solicitor general placed it on the dead docket.
A reason for that move could not be found in court documents.
However, records show that a provision had been made that the battery charge would be dismissed if Christopher were to go 12 months without having contact with his uncle.
The dead-docketing provision had obviously not been adhered to, as Christopher not only had contact with Jeffrey, he was living in the same household with his uncle.
Domestic abuse is never a one-time thing. They escalate up to and including murder. Where was his probation officer?