A Springfield man — who was charged with second degree murder back in 2011 but later pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter — is now facing felony domestic assault charges stemming from an incident that happened in late October.
Spencer Satterwhite, 37, is charged with first-degree domestic assault causing serious physical injury and second-degree domestic assault.
According to the prosecutor’s request for a warrant, Satterwhite allegedly caused serious injury by breaking the victim’s rib and choking the victim to the point of being unable to breathe.
“Strangulation is one of the number one indicators of future intimate partner homicide,” the prosecutor wrote, “which is especially concerning when the defendant has a previous conviction for (manslaughter).”
According to online court documents, Satterwhite pled guilty in 2011 to involuntary manslaughter in the first degree. Several news stories from 2011 say Satterwhite and two other men beat 26-year-old Aaron Mayberry in Clay County over a $45 debt. Mayberry died of asphyxiation, the news stories say. The three men were initially charged with second-degree murder.
The range of punishment for the recent first-degree domestic assault charge is 10 to 30 years in prison. The range for the second-degree domestic assault charge is one to seven years in prison.
“The defendant further threatened the victim by stating he would send others to harm her, and that he would keep coming back,” Nicholas Fears, Greene County assistant prosecuting attorney, wrote in the request for an arrest warrant. “There is no monetary or nonmonetary conditions of release that will adequately ensure the victim's safety.”
Satterfield remains in Greene County jail with a bond set at $75,000. According to online court records, he does not yet have an attorney.
