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Stillwater man charged with domestic assault and battery by strangulation

Stillwater NewsPress - 6/3/2020

Jun. 3--Cody Ryan Stewart, 27, of Stillwater was charged with domestic assault and battery by strangulation.

According to the affidavit, Stillwater officer Alonzo Cordova was dispatched to the 1000 block of N. Boomer Road regarding a physical domestic in progress.

"Dispatch advised a neighbor heard a woman scream and went to check on the female. When the neighbor knocked, a white male answered and slammed the door in the neighbor's face," Cordova wrote.

The neighbor advised dispatch she could still hear screaming when she called the police.

According to the court document, Cordova arrived on scene and listened for noises coming from inside the residence. He could not hear anything.

Cordova knocked on the residence but no one answered the door.

Officer Miguel Najera arrived on scene and told Cordova, he saw a white male in the bedroom window. The male was later identified as

According to the affidavit, Najera shouted at Stewart to come to the door, he wouldn't.

SPD Officers Byron Goree and TJ Low arrived on scene to assist. Low informed Cordova someone was coming to the door.

Cordova and Goree went to the front door and made contact with the victim, who opened the door slightly.

"She would not show much of her face, and was, at first, hesitant to open the door past what the chain lock would allow," Cordova wrote in the affidavit.

Cordova shined his flashlight through the door and observed a 1-year-old. The victim was also holding a one month old baby.

The affidavit said, Cordova shined his flashlight at the victim's face and could tell she was crying.

"Her eyes were red and watery, and I could see the tears on her face," Cordova wrote.

The victim was originally hesitant to open the door to officers, but she eventually did, the affidavit said.

According to Cordova, the victim didn't have any visible lacerations on her arms or legs. The officer observed the victim to have swollen eyes from crying.

Cordova wrote in the affidavit he asked the victim if everything was okay. He described her demeanor as hesitant and seemed to be fighting back more tears. He said her lip was quivering as she tried to speak, she said everything was "fine and nothing was going on."

"Additionally her arms started to tremble and I noticed her head lowered as she made attempts to look behind her," Cordova said.

Officer Goree asked the victim where Stewart was. The affidavit said she spoke in a lower tone of voice to keep Stewart from hearing.

According to court documents, the victim agreed to take her children and they went to sit in a patrol car to speak with the officers.

The victim sat in Najera's patrol car in the backseat with the two children.

She began telling the officer's what had happened that led to the alleged physical altercation between herself and Stewart.

She said they got into an argument earlier in the night. She left the residence but eventually came back due to her not wanting to be cold. The victim was unsure of the time she came back.

The victim went to a separate bedroom to lay down, but she said she was asked to go to the bedroom by Stewart.

She laid down with Stewart's daughter between them, and told officers everything was fine at that time.

According to the victim's statement in the affidavit, Stewart's phone went off around midnight. She asked him who it was and he wouldn't answer her. She admitted to getting upset and the two of them began to argue.

The victim said, Stewart got agitated and grabbed her by the neck for several seconds. At that time she was getting light headed, had difficulty breathing and couldn't talk.

She said after he let go of her neck, he grabbed her by her left arm and pulled her out of the bed onto the floor.

According to the victim, the child was asleep during the alleged altercation.

The victim told officers that Stewart kept ahold of her arm and dragged her on her back from the bedroom to the front of the apartment. When the neighbor knocked on the door, she said Stewart finally let go.

"She then stated Cody had punched and head-butted several holes in the wall and doors during their earlier argument," Cordova wrote.

The victim said, Stewart originally told her not to answer the door when they arrived. After several minutes he finally told her to answer, but not to open the door all the way.

The victim told officer's other than this incident, he had only assaulted her one other time. According to her, since they moved to Stillwater a month ago he has become more aggressive.

The officer took a closer look at the victim and noticed a small abrasion on the right side of her neck.

Cordova asked the victim if her neck was sore. She placed her hand over the abrasion and said her neck was hurting and her throat was sore.

She declined to have an ambulance treat her for injuries. She also told officers she didn't want Stewart arrested.

After concluding the investigation Stewart was placed under arrest.

The victim and two children went inside the residence once Stewart was removed from the scene.

Cordova photographed the scene, he noticed several holes in various places throughout the residence. The children were put back to bed, so the bedroom wasn't photographed.

The victim observed a big red mark just below her armpit and towards her back.

She showed the location of the injury and allowed the officer to photograph it.

Cordova said the abrasion was consistent with a rug burn.

Additional photos were taken of the victim's neck.

Stewart will have court on June 16, to appear with counsel.

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(c)2020 the Stillwater NewsPress (Stillwater, Okla.)

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