A blood infection that landed a Hammonton man in a medically induced coma was to blame for his attack on his girlfriend, the defense argued at his detention hearing Wednesday.
Ronnald Winters, 49, allegedly strangled his girlfriend in their bedroom June 23.
The woman's son — whose age was not given — had to pull Winters off of his mother to stop the attack, according to the charges. He then held Winters until police arrived.
"Had her son not been able to intercede while the victim was being strangled, things could have certainly gone a lot worse," Assistant Prosecutor Harlee Stein told the judge.
Winters' attorney claims the victim told an investigator that her boyfriend had been acting strangely in the days before the attack, and that nothing like that had ever happened between them before.
"Mr. Winters was not in his right mind due to medical issues he was experiencing at the time," defense attorney Maya Rex said.
She provided hospital reports that showed he was suffering from delirium when he was brought in and had to be medicated and intubated by medical staff. He had two blood infections.
Rex also noted that toxicology showed he had no drugs in his system other than marijuana.
"I haven’t seen anyone having a blood disorder that caused them to commit acts of domestic violence," Stein countered.
The prosecutor said she might be more inclined to believe the explanation if this had been Winters' first charge of violence.
"The defendant is not a stranger to the domestic violence circuit, so to speak," she said.
Stein detailed Winters' criminal history, which includes domestic violence, aggravated assault and a 10-year prison sentence in 2012 for a robbery in Atlantic City that included serious bodily injury. He was also on probation at the time of the attack.
"He is alleging this blood disorder caused him to react violently," Judge Pam D'Arcy said. "It might be more plausible if he didn’t have the violent history that he has."
She ordered him held in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
