BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – A Berkeley County jury has sentenced a Goose Creek man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of violently assaulting his wife during a prolonged attack that prosecutors said nearly killed her.
Don Antoin Woody was found guilty of domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature following a three-day trial in Moncks Corner, according to the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Judge Thomas W. McGee III imposed the maximum sentence allowed under state law. Woody was acquitted of a separate kidnapping charge.
The case stemmed from an incident on the night of June 12, 2022, when Woody was at home with his wife and her two children, authorities said. Testimony presented at trial described a brutal assault that unfolded after a verbal argument.
The victim testified that Woody punched her in the face, knocking her to the floor, then grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into a bedroom. There, she said, he pushed her down, punched her repeatedly and stabbed her several times with a barbecue fork. During the attack, she told jurors, Woody repeatedly threatened to kill her.
According to testimony, the violence escalated when Woody wrapped a fan cord around her neck and strangled her until she lost consciousness, again telling her that it would be her last day on Earth. When she regained consciousness, the victim said she told him she could not see or breathe, but the assault continued.
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At one point, police said the victim managed to escape the house, but she testified that she was struck in the back outside, causing her to fall face down on the ground. Prosecutors said Woody then threatened her with a metal crowbar and forced her back into the home, where she was kept in the bedroom for roughly 24 hours.
The victim asked for medical care that night, but Woody refused, according to testimony. He also took her phone and only allowed her to use it under his supervision. The following day, the victim persuaded him to call 911 by agreeing to tell first responders that she had fallen from a ladder.
When emergency medical technicians arrived, Woody repeated that account. However, once the victim was alone in the back of the ambulance, she told EMTs she had been assaulted by her husband.
At the hospital, Woody repeatedly called the victim from the lobby, demanding to know who was with her, prosecutors said. He fled after being approached by a hospital security officer, who was also a North Charleston police officer, and was later apprehended by a North Charleston K-9 officer.
Medical testimony showed the victim suffered black eyes, stab wounds to her face and chest, a broken rib, a collapsed lung, injuries to her neck and throat, and multiple contusions. A medical expert testified that her injuries were life-threatening and that she was likely moments from death following the strangulation. Jurors were shown photographs of the injuries, the crime scene and the barbecue fork used in the attack.
Woody had prior convictions for disorderly conduct, assault on a police officer, assault and battery, driving without a license, driving under suspension and possession with intent to distribute a Schedule I-III drug, according to the solicitor’s office.
Assistant Solicitor Marie Lerch prosecuted the case alongside Assistant Solicitor Jon Newlon and Investigator Spencer Nieto, all with the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Lerch credited the victim’s testimony, the investigative work of the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office and the North Charleston Police Department, and the training of EMTs who recognized that the injuries were inconsistent with a fall.
Solicitor Scarlett A. Wilson said the sentence reflected the severity of the crime and the danger posed to the victim.
