A sword attack in which the swordsman nearly decapitated a Lance Street woman will cost a man with a history of violence six years in prison.
The defendant, Jeffery Lynn Thomas, 44, entered a guilty plea before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to the charge of aggravated assault. He was given a six-year sentence to be served as a range two offender. His increased range comes due to his long prior record which included numerous convictions in neighboring Cannon County for crimes including kidnapping, child abuse, armed robbery, and escape.
Thomas’ sentence comes after he attacked a man on his porch. The victim in the case testified at Thomas’ preliminary hearing last year saying he and his wife had tried to help him in the past, but Thomas had showed up at their house with the sword for unknown reasons.
“He kept yelling ‘I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you,’” the victim recalled during his testimony, noting his wife could have been killed when she stepped out of the house to reason with Thomas. “He swung at her and if she hadn’t moved he would have cut her head clean off.”
The victim went on to testify that he took on the sword-wielding man with a walking stick but was slashed on the shoulder during the fight. The victim said Thomas ran away after he engaged him in the armed fight.