A Cobb County man will spend 30 years in prison for beating his wife so severely she lost sight in one eye, prosecutors announced Friday.
Ricky Melvin Allen, 59, of Powder Springs pleaded guilty Thursday to four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated battery and other charges, including cruelty to children.
Prosecutors said that in August 2014, Allen attacked his wife repeatedly first with a wooden elephant statue after she didn’t hand him a checkbook quickly enough.
After his wife of 25 years tried to call 911, prosecutors said Allen tried to strangle her and then struck her with a hammer. When she fled outside, the husband then stomped on her head in the driveway, prosecutors said.
The couple’s 13-year-old was awaken by the noise and tried to stop his father but was thrown into a wall, prosecutors said. A neighbor called 911 and Allen barricaded himself in his home after hearing sirens, prosecutors said. Police eventually were able to take him into custody.
In addition to a permanent eye injury, Allen’s wife, who was not identified, sustained a broken nose and a head injury that required staples.
“By some kind of miracle she survived,” Assistant District Attorney Matt Carlton said in a statement.
Allen will serve 30 years of a 40-year sentence behind bars and the remainder on probation.
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