Cherokee County man sentenced to 20 years for beating girlfriend

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A Cherokee County man has been sentenced to 20 years for beating his girlfriend.

Jason Allyn Axtell plead guilty to beating his girlfriend. The two got into an argument in their car Dec. 5, 2021, which resulted in Axtell striking her several times. When they returned to their Holly Springs home, he sat on top of the victim, grabbed her throat and applied enough pressure that she had difficulty breathing.

He struck her on her head, face, and on other parts of her body, dragging her by her hair and ripping clumps of hair out. Axtell then threatened her with a kitchen knife and told her he would kill her if she called her father or the police. The victim only escaped once “he became so intoxicated that she was able to get away from him by locking herself in her bedroom,” according to Assistant District Attorney Elliot Stone.

Axtell was convicted of family violence aggravated assault, false imprisonment, criminal trespass and other charges. Axtell must serve the first 10 years of his sentence in prison. He will serve the remainder on probation and must follow certain conditions, including having no contact with the victim or her family and undergoing a substance abuse evaluation and treatment. He has also been banned from Cherokee County.

“Jason Axtell targeted a vulnerable individual, abused and intimidated her, threatened to cause more brain damage to her, and told her no one would believe her if she called the police,” said District Attorney Shannon Wallace. “In the end, the victim showed amazing strength in calling for help, providing details of the attack to law enforcement, and participating in the prosecution of this case. With time and support, our hope is that she fully recovers from the physical and emotional injuries he inflicted on her.”