NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Michell Lott, 57, had a court order to stay away from his ex-wife. Now he is charged with attempted murder, according to police.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said the court order did not stop Lott from going to her home Sunday.
“I think he only went back with a can of gasoline and with a knife. His intent was to take her life,” Howard said.
Police said Lott managed to break into the Sandy Springs apartment he once shared with his wife, before beating her up.
“She’s actually sleeping with a hammer next to her bed for her own protection,” Howard said.
Howard said the 32-year-old victim tried to fight off Lott before being pushed from her second-floor balcony.
The woman’s neck was broken.
Lott had just bonded out of jail for assaulting her before the latest attack, Howard said.
Howard said Lott was arrested for assault in September and a judge released him on bond. Four days later, he went back and beat her up again. This time, he was charged with a felony.
The district attorney’s office indicted Lott on Oct. 7 and then asked that he not be given a bond, but he was released again.
The district attorney’s office is now pushing for new legislation that prohibits anyone who has harmed a victim twice from receiving bond.
“In January, we are going to be asking state legislators not to allow someone who has injured the same victim on two occasions not to be released on bond,” Howard said.
Channel 2's Nefertiti Jaquez spoke to a neighbor who was surprised to hear what Lott was accused of.
"You would think he was like a preacher, he seemed like a nice guy," Roger Patterson said.