Man tried to hack his ex-girlfriend to death with a machete, prosecutors say
A 23-year-old man was charged Wednesday with trying to kill his former girlfriend with a machete after he crept into her Agoura Hills home and attacked her as she lay in bed.
Travis Anthony Hunter is alleged to have broken into his ex-girlfriend’s home about 6:45 a.m. Monday and repeatedly hacked her, according to Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
“She suffered severe injuries. She has injuries to her face, neck, jaw and other parts of her body,” Santiago said.
Capt. Chris Reed of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said she was able to fight Hunter, who fled. Other people in the woman’s home called 911 and sheriff’s deputies surrounded the area.
Hunter eluded authorities but later returned to the area around the woman’s home. Friends of the victim later located the alleged assailant hiding by a wall and detained him until deputies placed him under arrest, Reed said.
Hunter was barred from contacting his former girlfriend because of a restraining order. He was previously convicted of attacking her.
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Prosecutors charged him with one count each of attempted murder; mayhem; willful injuring of a girlfriend; and first-degree burglary. He also faces a misdemeanor count of disobeying a domestic relations criminal protective order.
Hunter has a history of violence.
In 2012 and 2013, he was convicted of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.
Last year, he pleaded no contest to attacking his ex-girlfriend, and he was sentenced to two years in prison. As part of the conviction, he was ordered to stay away from the victim.
If convicted as charged, Hunter faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison. Hunter is being held in Los Angeles County jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
Follow me on Twitter at @lacrimes.
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UPDATES:
7:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Sheriff’s Capt. Chris Reed.
This article was originally published at 4:35 p.m.
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