CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Prosecutors said that a south Georgia man viciously attacked an Army reservist as she tried to take her daughter to dinner at a Cracker Barrel restaurant.
Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones was in the courtroom as opening statements ended and testimony began Wednesday.
Troy West is accused of kicking and beating a woman while yelling racial slurs. But West's defense team painted an unflattering picture of Tasha Hill before she took the stand.
The defense told the jury that Hill had such a bad character that she couldn't be believed. Then Hill took the stand just after 10:30 a.m. and emotionally told her version of events.
"And Troy West was punching me and kicking me and I heard my daughter scream, ‘Mommy,'" said Hill.
Hill, and Army reservist, tearfully explained what she said West did to her at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in 2009. Hill said while she was being attacked in front of her 7-year-old daughter that West yelled racial slurs at her, including the N-word.
Hill said the attack began when she asked West to be careful because he almost hit her child with the door to the restaurant.
But West's attorney said Hill provoked his client by spitting on him.
Clayton County district attorney Tracy Graham-Lawson asked Hill in court if she spit on him. Hill responded, "I did not."
Prior to Hill taking the stand, the defense told the jury she couldn't be believed.
Defense attorney Tony Axam said in 2005 Hill got into an argument with a woman.
"And (Hill) said, ‘I am in the military and I will cut you,'" said Axam.
Axam also said that Hill threatened two teenagers she thought burglarized her home.
"She said, ‘I will blow their (expletive) heads off,'" said Axam.
Axam said the jury should consider Hill's character.
But Hill testified that West's anger is why he is facing jail time.
"He said, ‘You need to watch your (expletive) daughter. She almost hit herself in the face with the door,'" said Hill.
West faces aggravated assault, child cruelty, false imprisonment and battery charges.
There is surveillance video of the incident and the jury is expected to see it during the trial.
WSBTV
