Child Abuse & Aggravated Assault

By Jessie Williams 

A Lafayette man is charged with four counts of child abuse and two counts of aggravated assault after he allegedly threatened to put a butcher knife through his wife’s neck, in front of her four children, and threatened to kill her and himself. 

 

According to the Affidavit of Complaint filed by Patrolman Stacy Woodard of the Lafayette Police Department, the wife of 26-year-old Steven Ray Wooden, reported the incident to police on July 14, 2019 and stated that on Saturday, July 13, her husband came into her bedroom and began yelling and cursing at her. 

After telling him to leave, she said he took her car keys and cell phone. He also allegedly pushed her down in a closet while she was holding her 5-month-old baby and put his hands over her mouth so she couldn’t yell for help. 

She stated that he knocked shelves on top of her and struck her in the head and face. 

Mrs. Wooden was later able to talk Steven into allowing her to sit on the couch. 

All four children were sitting with her when he allegedly took a large butcher knife and threatened to put it through her neck unless she would talk to him. He also stated he was going to kill himself. 

This went on all night long, according to Steven’s wife, and she was able to talk him into allowing her to get groceries the following day.

She and the four children went straight to the Lafayette Police Department for help. 

When she arrived, she had a busted lip and visible bruises and handprints on her arms.

Officers from the Lafayette Police Department and the Macon County Sheriffs Department arrived at Wooden’s residence to speak with him, but he barricaded himself inside and threatened to kill himself. 

Officers could see he had a knife in his hand. 

After a tense standoff with law enforcement, Mr. Wooden exited the home. EMS was called to the scene to treat the wounds he had inflicted on himself. He was transported to Macon Community Hospital for evaluation and charged with four counts of child abuse and two counts of aggravated assault. 

His bond was set at $200,000, and he is scheduled to appear in general sessions court on August 14, 2019.