NEWPORT — A Derby man pleaded not guilty to first-degree aggravated domestic assault and reckless endangerment after allegedly firing a handgun and choking a woman during a March 24 incident in Newport.
Matthew Payne, 51, was ordered held without bail by Judge Rory Thibault in Orleans County Superior Court.
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According to police affidavits, Newport City officers responded to a Short Spring Street residence shortly before 8 a.m. following a report that Payne had fired a handgun and had a woman by the throat.
When Detective James LeClair arrived, two patrolmen were sheltering near a garage with the woman as Payne remained inside with the weapon, the affidavit states. Officers arrested Payne when he exited the residence.
Investigators found a bullet hole in the bedroom ceiling. The woman told police that following an argument, Payne grabbed her neck, pushed her against a bedroom door and squeezed “a little bit,” impeding her breathing, according to the affidavit. She reported fearing for her life.
The woman said she later heard a gunshot while feeding dogs and found Payne leaning over the bed. When questioned, Payne told officers he accidentally discharged the weapon while struggling to open the slide, the affidavit states. He denied choking the woman.
Sergeant Nicholas Rivers reported in a second affidavit that the woman believed Payne might have been attempting self-harm.
