Police officer witnesses man assaulting pregnant woman holding suspects’s infant son

Staff report

WARREN

Marques J. Shannon, 31, of Martin Street Southwest is charged with the felonious assault of the pregnant mother of his infant son.

When a Warren police officer arrived at the Martin Street apartment where they live at 11:02 p.m. Friday, he saw Shannon hit the woman twice in the face as she sat on the couch screaming and holding the boy, who is nearly 5 months old. The officer saw it through a screen door.

After the second punch, Shannon yelled: “Pop goes the weasel, [expletive].”

The officer entered the apartment, drew his stun gun and yelled several times at Shannon to put his hands on his head, but Shannon just moved toward the officer with fists clenched by his side, police said.

The officer fired his stun gun at Shannon, hitting him from about 4 feet away, causing Shannon to turn away and fall to his knees, but he still did not comply.

After a second shot with the stun gun, Shannon complied and was taken into custody.

The woman, 28, said Shannon had been hitting her in the head, face and back with a metal broom handle before officers got there.

She had two large swollen areas on the top of her head, a laceration on her cheek, bruising on her face and red marks on her back. She and her son were taken to ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital for treatment. A broken broom handle was found on the living-room floor.

The woman said she didn’t know why Shannon had beaten her, but he said he was going to kill her, their son and their unborn child. She said once during the beating, her head had hit her son’s head.

A not-guilty plea was entered for Shannon on Monday in Warren Municipal Court. A judge ordered that he remain in the Trumbull County jail, ineligible to make bond.

His next hearing is Thursday.