fire ants used for torture in Alabama

[cyqe]

Fire Ants used as weapon in domestic incident
Lance Griffin
[email protected]
Tuesday, September 5, 2006


A Cottonwood woman is recovering from injuries police say were caused when her estranged husband assaulted her and held her leg in a fire ant bed, resulting in more than 100 stings.

Lorenzo Fluellen Martin, 34, of Cottonwood, turned himself in to Cottonwood police Friday and was charged with third-degree domestic violence and unlawful imprisonment. Cottonwood Police Chief Jim Smith said he would confer with Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska to determine if the charges will be elevated to felony domestic violence.

"Essentially, that’s torture to me," Smith said. "This is just mind boggling. In 20-something years of law enforcement, I’ve never seen anything like holding someone in an ant bed while they’re being stung repeatedly, and not release them."

Smith said the incident happened Friday afternoon at the victim’s residence. According to police, Martin beat the victim on the head and was believed to have been holding the victim’s left leg in an ant bed when a female passerby stopped to give assistance. According to police, Martin then fled into the woods and later turned himself in to police. Medics responded to a 911 call and treated the woman’s injuries.

"I would say 100 stings would be a conservative estimate," Smith said.

Smith said interviews with the victim and Martin indicate the incident may have happened after the victim informed Martin she was filing for divorce.

This story can be found at: http://www.dothaneagle.com/servlet/S...=1149190423017

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