VIENNA — William J. Alexander, 25, of Vienna, was arrested March 12 by Maries County sheriff’s deputies following a domestic violence report by his former girlfriend that occurred earlier in the day.

According to Missouri Case.net, Alexander has two charges pending for the case: alleged assault in the third degree — a class E felony and endangering the welfare of a child — second degree.

Alexander was released from the Maries County Jail on March 14 after posting a $10,000 bond. 

According to a probable cause statement from Maries County Deputy Shannon Fannon, the sheriff’s office received multiple reports around early afternoon on March 12 at the intersection of Highway 63 just north of Maries County Road 302 a domestic assault was in progress. However, both parties were gone upon her arrival.

At 3:15 p.m., Asia Davenport, 21, contacted the sheriff’s department to report that she was the victim of the earlier incident.

“Ms. Davenport stated her ex-boyfriend, William Alexander, lost his temper during their discussion, punching her and damaging her vehicle,” Fannon’s report stated. “She agreed to meet with me at the sheriff’s office to provide a voluntary statement.”

According to Chief Major Scott John with the Maries County Sheriff’s Department Belle Division, the parties involved had ended the relationship on Friday.

“Their child (A.A.) is a year-and-a-half-old and (Alexander) is the baby’s father,” John said. “They aren’t married and when she broke up with him on Friday, she said she was leaving to go stay with a friend in Kansas City. Alexander didn’t want her to take the child to Kansas City with her. They were arguing about it on the phone and he asked to come talk to her. She was scared but he promised to stay calm. She was on Highway 63 and pulled off near Maries County Road 302.”

When Alexander arrived, Davenport spoke with him outside of the window of his truck. The argument escalated and he grabbed her shirt to pull her in. She got away and ran to her car, but her blocked her in with his truck.”

Fannon’s report of the incident provided further information.

According to her statement, Alexander was calm at first while he was speaking with her. Davenport was standing outside of the vehicle’s window when Alexander lost his temper, grabbed her by the hoodie and bra, mid-chest, with his hand, and pulled her into his vehicle where she was to face to face with him.

During the altercation, Alexander was screaming at Davenport and making her scared for her safety, according to the report. She was able to get away and run back to her vehicle where she locked to doors and rolled up the windows. She tried to leave, but Alexander moved his vehicle and blocked her exit. 

Davenport reported that she rolled down her window a small amount to ask Alexander to move. Alexander grabbed her window and attempted to break it or get it open and was able to reach inside and roll the window down. When it opened, he grabbed her by the hair and punched her with his left hand at least three times on the left side of her face while she was trying to cover her face with her hands, according to Davenport.

According to the report, after he hit Davenport, he unlocked the doors and went to the passenger side backseat of the vehicle to comfort his one-year-old son (A.A.) who was crying,  before returning to Davenport and crying while apologizing for hitting her. 

Fannon took photos of Davenport’s injuries that occurred during the assault. She received a busted and swollen left upper lip, a black eye, an approximate one-inch-long laceration and a large swollen contusion on her left forehead under the hairline. The Maries Osage Ambulance District responded to the sheriff’s office to assess her injuries and recommended she seek medical treatment at the Emergency Room for possible stitches and to see if her orbital bone was fractured.

Davenport’s car had a dash camera that captured the abuse.

“This domestic abuse victim decided that she was not going to be a victim so she authorized and encouraged us to release pictures of the bruises on the side of her face,” John said. “We posted a 16-second video on the Office of Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman Facebook page.”

Following the filing of the witness statement, the Maries County Sheriff’s Department requested and received a warrant for Alexander’s arrest. 

At approximately 6 p.m., Fannon went to the 11000 block of Maries County Road 336 with deputies Tiffany Johnson and John and took Alexander into custody without incident. 

At the sheriff’s office, Alexander was told his Miranda Rights and agreed to cooperate and answer questions in an interview.

According to the report, Alexander stated he would be willing to tell deputies everything. During his statement, he admitted to all the details except for how many times he hit her.

“He believed he had only “landed” one punch but when confronted with her injuries, he did not deny he caused all three,” Fannon’s report said. “Alexander was very remorseful and was indicating he desired help with his anger issues.”

Alexander is due back in Maries County Circuit Court on April 5 for a counsel status hearing.

John said he admires Davenport for her bravery to speak out against domestic violence.

“She is being braver than any domestic violence victim I have had in the past and we need as many victims to speak out about this hidden crime as possible,” John said. “This is a crime that goes on behind closed doors.”

Davenport has been speaking out about her experience on Facebook.

“I just wanna say thank you, everyone, for the supportive messages, I appreciate it a lot,” Davenport wrote. “I will not let this define me. It’s a bump in the road of my story. If anyone wants to message me feel free. I’m sorry if I don’t reply right away I have a lot going on but I’ll try my best.”