A husband is accused of stabbing his pregnant wife in the stomach multiple times and attempting to set her on fire in order to keep her from testifying against him, according to Houston police.
The assault happened Wednesday in the 8100 block of Talton Street in northeast Houston around 4:55 p.m.
27-year-old Emmanuel Mallard is charged with aggravated assault of a family member and violation of a protective order.
The horrific details of what the wife said she endured were outlined in a court document.
According to documents, Mallard and his wife have been married since 2015 and they share two children. The wife is currently five months pregnant with their third child, but that did not stop Mallard from brutally attacking the woman.
The wife told investigators she was at her mother’s house on Wednesday when Mallard arrived and told her to get into the car with him. He threatened that, if she did not, he would burn her mother’s house down.
Mallard’s wife did as she was told and he drove her to his father’s home on Talton Street.
Once inside the residence, Mallard told his wife he was going to kill her in order to keep her from testifying against him in a previous case, documents state. He then tied her wrists together with an extension cord, then slapped her in the right side of her head. She managed to free her hands and tried to run away, but Mallard grabbed her again, this time tying her wrists and ankles.
The woman said her husband was suspicious that she was wearing a recording device, so he cut off her clothes and shoes with a pocket knife.
Mallard began to stab the naked mother on both sides of her stomach, on the right side of the neck, and in her back, according to court documents.
The mother pleaded for him to stop, reminding him she was pregnant with their child, but he allegedly told her that he did not care. The beating continued, with Mallard allegedly striking his wife repeatedly in the head with a crowbar. The woman said he shoved clothing in her mouth to muffle her sounds, then placed a mattress over the window to prevent anyone from seeing what he was doing. She was then struck several times in the head with a tire iron and twice with a propane tank, investigators said.
Afterward, Mallard allegedly doused a shirt with lighter fluid and threw it at his naked wife. The woman managed to free herself enough to throw something at him, then ran out the back door and to a neighbor’s home for help.
While the wife got away, Mallard’s father’s house went up in flames and the suspect fled the scene.
The wife was later transported to an area hospital in unknown condition. Her bruises and injuries were consistent with what she told investigators, police said.
Mallard has a lengthy criminal history, with charges in Houston, Splendora, Pasadena, Humble, Spring, and Harris County between 2013 and 2019. Records show his offenses escalated in nature and violence as the years went on, with charges including theft of property, burglary of vehicle, obstruction or retaliation, terroristic threat in a public place, and various charges of assault of a family or household member with bodily injury.
As of Thursday, Mallard was not in custody.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact the HPD Major Assaults & Family Violence Division at 713-308-8800 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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