4 Recent Cases Of Alleged Domestic Violence Highlight The Ongoing Tragic Crisis

While attending the University of Virginia, 20-year-old Cayden Dalton allegedly abducted his 19-year-old girlfriend, injuring her, and violently threatening her life, according to The Daily Progress.

The Progress reported the incident took place in August 2018, during an annual block party. In court, the young woman reportedly testified Dalton was highly controlling while they dated and alleged he had subjected her to physical and emotional abuse, including hitting her with her own hands so he could deny striking her.

Regarding the August 2018 attack, she reportedly testified Dalton knocked her down, repeatedly slammed her head against the ground, choked her, and shoved his fingers into her mouth.

"There was no doubt in my mind I was going to die," she reportedly testified. "He said the one thing he wanted most was to see me dead, and the one thing he wanted most was to be the one to do it."

In May 2019, Dalton pled guilty to charges of felony abduction and felony unlawful wounding, Charlottesville's WCAV-TV reported. While the charges reportedly carried maximum sentences of 10 years and five years, the judge sentenced Dalton to 18 months behind bars.

On October 3, Indiana resident Brian Cogdill, 45, reportedly pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of his 19-year-old fiancée, Emma Jean Jamison.

In making his plea, Cogdill allegedly told investigators he became enraged and violently lashed out at Jamison because he believed she cheated on him, was using drugs, and stole $300 he had saved to buy dentures.

According to court documents obtained by Louisville's WDRB News, Cogdill brought Jamison to a Jackson County hospital on September 6, 2018, and told doctors she overdosed on meth.

Hospital staff reportedly notified police after observing suspicious injuries on Jamison's body. In the probable cause affidavit, a Jackson County Sheriff's deputy reported blood and possible bite marks on Jamison's body.

The officer, WDRB News reported, wrote, "It appeared to me Emma had been beaten by someone brutally. The bruising to Emma's body was extreme and extensive."

Police said Cogdill initially stuck with the overdose story, and claimed a drug dealer must have attacked her. However, in court, he reportedly admitted guilt and apologized to Jamison's family.

Per the terms of a plea deal, a judge sentenced Cogdill to 24 years in prison, with 10 years suspended, and five years of probation. Cogdill is also required to register as a violent offender, Bedford's WBIW-AM reported.

According to a criminal complaint cited by The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Archie Griffin, 41, subjected his wife, Dorwhitem Johnson, 31, to an attack a judge said: "probably led to her death."

Authorities alleged that in September 2018, Griffin subjected his wife to horrific abuse. They accused him of punching Johnson in the head, scratching her face, biting her shoulders, kicking her body, pummeling her with a chair leg, whipping her with a phone cord, and burning her genitals.

Griffin allegedly told police he then spent a week attempting to treat her wounds before calling 911. During the call, he reportedly said he "lost his mind" and assaulted her because he suspected her of cheating on him.

When the medical examiner reportedly could not determine a cause of death for Johnson, authorities were unable to charge Griffin with homicide. In court, prosecutors argued the violence inflicted on Johnson caused her death.

In February 2019, a judge agreed and sentenced Griffin to 25 years in prison, followed by 17 years of supervision.

According to The Indianapolis Star, former Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper pled guilty in April 2019 to three felonies — criminal confinement, identity deception, official misconduct — and a misdemeanor count of domestic battery.

The Star reported that per the terms of Cooper's plea agreement, the felonies would be reduced to misdemeanors if Cooper stays out of legal trouble for three years.

The charges reportedly arose over a March incident, in which a woman identified in court as Cooper's fiancée fled to a neighbor's house and called the police. The woman's right eye was allegedly bruised and swollen.

Cooper reportedly admitted guilt in court and afterward submitted his resignation letter. The Indiana Supreme Court has since suspended his license to practice law.