Corey Dean Branham, 24, of Arnold has been charged with four felonies and a misdemeanor after he allegedly held his mother against her will, choking and punching her and holding her at knifepoint. The incident happened Feb. 12 at the mother’s home in the 2300 block of Weedel Drive in Arnold, authorities reported.
Arnold Police were called to the home at about 2:50 p.m. when the suspect’s grandmother contacted them saying her daughter, a 43-year-old Arnold woman, may be in danger, the probable-cause statement said.
The 43-year-old began yelling that her son was attacking her while she was on the phone with her mother, which prompted the call to police, the report said.
The victim told police her son was not allowed in her home, but she found him sleeping in the basement. She said her son likely got into the house by climbing through an unlocked window, according to the report.
After finding Branham in the house, the woman said she told him she was calling the police, and he allegedly “became enraged” and took her cell phone and forced her to sit on a bed in the basement, not allowing her to leave, the report said.
After a while, Branham led her upstairs, and she tried to escape through a screen door. However, Branham grabbed her by a hood on her jacket and neck, forcing her to the ground. He then allegedly choked her and punched her in the face and eventually dragged her back downstairs and continued to choke and punch her, according to the report.
When officers arrived, no one would answer the door or telephone, and they were unable to force entry into the home. The woman said when Branham heard voices at the front door, he allegedly held a pocketknife to her face and told her not to make a sound or he would kill her, the report said.
Branham then allegedly taped the woman’s wrists together, but she was able to free herself and run out the front door where police were waiting. Branham then allegedly hid in a basement closet, and when officers ordered him to come out, he held the knife to his neck and threatened to kill himself. Officers used a stun gun to subdue and arrest him, according to the report.
The victim “was emotionally traumatized by the incident and suffered injuries to her face, eyes, lips, mouth, neck and right leg,” the report said
On Feb. 13, the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Branham with first-degree kidnapping, a class A felony; armed criminal action, an unclassified felony; second-degree domestic assault, a class D felony; resisting or interfering with an arrest, a class E felony; and first-degree trespassing, a class B misdemeanor, court records said.
A class A felony is punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison. A class D felony is punishable by up to seven years in prison. A class E felony is punishable by up to four years in prison, and the unclassified felony is punishable by a minimum of three years.
As of Feb. 25, Branham was being held in the Jefferson County Jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond, according to the jail data base.
Branham previously was convicted of felony drug possession, and in December 2018, received a suspended sentence and was placed on five years,’ probation, court records show.