A Coweta County man is accused of beating his girlfriend with a baseball bat, leaving her clinging to life with a fractured skull and numerous broken bones.
David Bennett, 48, of a Newnan address, was arrested hours after the Tuesday morning attack, according to Maj. Jimmy Yarbrough with the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies tracked Bennett by his cell phone signal to an Atlanta home, where he was wearing bloody clothing when arrested without incident, Yarbrough said. Bennett was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated assault, both felonies, in addition to two outstanding drug charges, a spokeswoman for the jail said Wednesday.
Investigators believe a fight between Bennett and his live-in girlfriend, Nicole Lee Hernane, 32, led to the brutal attack, Yarbrough said. After the attack, Bennett allegedly told a neighbor to call an ambulance as he left the East Marjorie Street home.
Hernane was flown to Atlanta Medical Center, where she underwent surgeries Wednesday, Yarbrough said. Hernane sustained broken ribs and arms, in addition to other severe injuries, he said.
Yarbrough said the domestic violence case is one of the worst he has seen.
One in four women have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner, a 2010 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states. Georgia ranked as the 10th highest state in the United States in 2009 for cases of men killing women, according to the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The agency offers numerous resources online for those needing help, including a link for finding domestic violence programs.
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