Cobb Man Sentenced for Brutal Attack on Wife

A Powder Springs man will spend several decades in prison after he pleaded guilty to viciously beating his wife in August of last year, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Ricky Melvin Allen, 59 pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated battery, three counts of simple battery, cruelty to children in the third degree, two counts of hindering a 911 call, and two counts of obstruction for the Aug. 20, 2014 incident.

Court documents show that Allen began beating his wife after she failed to give him their checkbook fast enough. He first struck her with an elephant statue, then threw her into a folding table, which broke. Allen then choked his wife as she tried to call 911, hit her with a hammer, then chased her as she fled from the home and stomped on her head while she was lying on the driveway, the DA’s Office said.

Allen also attacked his 13-year-old son when he tried to defend his mother, according to the DA’s Office.

A neighbor called 911, at which point Allen barricaded himself inside the home. Cobb County SWAT units were eventually able to take Allen out of his residence. Prosecutors say Allen’s wife required staples to close her head wounds and suffered a broken nose, in addition to the permanent eye injury.

“This woman was savagely beaten by a man whom she loved and trusted, and the defendant forced his young son watch the horrific beating of his mother,” said ADA Matt Carlton, who prosecuted the case, in a statement. “By some kind of miracle, she survived.”

After accepting the non-negotiated guilty plea, Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris immediately sentenced Allen to 40 years, with 30 years to serve in prison and the rest on probation, the DA’s Office said.