An Illinois man has been charged with multiple counts relating to an alleged assault on his girlfriend as they were driving through Moultrie County last month.
Thomas Andrew Welch, 31, was initially charged with aggravated domestic battery, aggraated unlawful restraint, and aggravated kidnapping for the early morning incident last Thursday, but the state’s attorney’s office dropped the unlawful restraint charge and added attempted murder, WCIA reported.
The sheriff’s office said it was called just before 1 a.m. by a homeowner who said a woman had approached him at his home in Kirksville covered in blood. While en route to the scene, the deputy learned that the woman had jumped out of a moving vehicle.
The woman, who had a visible cut on her forehead, told the deputy she had been in the vehicle with Welch, her boyfriend, and his friend, 33-year-old Cody R. Kimery, but eventually felt unsafe after multiple attempts to get him to let her out of the vehicle. She said she eventually jumped out while the truck was traveling about 20 miles per hour.
The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment, and deputies tracked down Welch’s Chevrolet truck, impounded it, and obtained a search warrant.
The search warrant uncovered a dash camera in the truck, and audio and video from the camera showed the victim’s attempt to get out while the truck was stopped only to be pulled back inside.
An affidavit says that the incident began just before midnight on December 30. The victim, sitting in the passenger seat, got into a verbal altercation with Welch, and repeatedly asked him to take her home. The altercation escalated, with Welch yelling at the victim and making threats to harm and kill her.
At one point, the victim tried to get out of the truck only to have Welch drag her back inside from his seat and then walk around to the passenger side and shove her back in. That was the incident in which she received the injury to her head. Kimery, the statement said, participated in the efforts to keep her inside.
Police located the victim’s pink scarf at the intersection where that incident took place, and it contained suspected blood and a clump of hair.
Welch got back in the vehicle and continued driving, as the victim repeatedly begged to be let out of the vehicle. At one point, the affidavit says, he told Kimery, “I’m going to have to kill her bro.”
Welch continued driving and was about an hour and a half away from the victim’s home when she jumped out of the moving truck.
At the hospital, she was given staples and stitches for the cut to her head. Doctors said the cut exposed her skull and will result in permanent scarring. She also had bruising to her neck consistent with being choked and swelling to her cheek.
Welch was arrested on Sunday and ordered held without bond the following day. A preliminary hearing is set for Friday.
Kimery was charged with unlawful restraint. He was already in jail, having been arrested in Coles County on Saturday for aggravated battery to a peace officer and possession of methamphetamine. His first court appearance in Moultrie County has not been scheduled.
Welch has a steady stream of arrests dating back to 2008 and including six stints in jail on charges including drugs, burglary, resisting, domestic battery, and aggravated battery.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Shutterstock]
