ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- An Odessa man was arrested last weekend after investigators said he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend and threatened to kill her if she left him. Kol Javel McDonald, 18, has been charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. 

According to an affidavit, on February 24, officers with the Odessa Police Department responded to an apartment on Andrews Highway after an 18-year-old victim called 911 and said she’d been choked by her boyfriend, identified as McDonald. Investigators met the victim in a neighboring apartment where she was hiding because she was reportedly too scared to go home. 

The victim told investigators that she and McDonald began arguing on the drive home when he allegedly choked her for the first time. The argument continued when they arrived home, the victim said, and escalated further when McDonald asked the woman if she was going to leave him. When the victim said yes, McDonald reportedly grabbed a kitchen knife and said he was going to kill her if she tried to leave. 

The woman said McDonald continued approaching her with the knife in his hand and asked repeatedly if she was going to leave, “terrifying” her, the affidavit stated. The woman said she hid in the bathroom and later tried again to leave their shared apartment. That’s when McDonald reportedly grabbed her again by the neck and “slammed her to the floor”. The victim said McDonald then threatened to kill her and himself if she tried to leave. After a continued argument, the victim said McDonald allowed her to leave and that is when she fled to a neighbor’s home to call 911. 

Investigators said the woman had multiple bruises around her neck as well as bloody scratches to her neck and bloodshot eyes, consistent with being strangled. During a search of the woman’s home, officers said they found the knife laying on a pile of clothes in the bedroom. 

McDonald was quickly located within the apartment complex but refused to provide a statement. He was arrested and taken to the Ector County Law Enforcement Center where he was later released on a $50,000 bond.