By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater man has been given a six-year prison term for attacking his wife while she was lying in a hospital bed at the Stillwater Medical Center Emergency Room on Halloween of 2018.
Myron Ian Dent, 25, had been scheduled to stand trial this week, which he avoided by pleading guilty last week when he was sentenced by District Judge Phillip Corley, court records show.
Dent, a convicted burglar with a drug problem according to court records, had been released from prison about seven months before the attack on his wife, state Department of Corrections records show.
If Dent had been found guilty by a jury of domestic assault and battery after multiple prior felony convictions, he could have been imprisoned for as much as life, court records show.
Dent was arrested at Stillwater Medical Center at 10:36 a.m. on Oct. 31, 2018, according to an affidavit by Stillwater Police Officer John Stanbery.
About 15 minutes earlier, the Stillwater officer was sent to the hospital on a report that an employee had seen Dent “with his hand on or around the neck of his wife,” the affidavit said.
Dent’s wife said “while she was lying on her left side in the hospital bed, Myron Dent made the threat to kick her teeth in and grabbed her on the right side of her neck and forced her head and neck into the bed.
“The victim stated she held her breath due to the amount of force being applied to the area of her neck. The victim stated several times that she was afraid Myron Dent would kill her, get revenge against her, or harm her animals.
“The victim stated she had been the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of Myron Dent on numerous occasions with the most recent occurrence last night when he pushed her into a machine at a casino.
“The victim stated in the past Myron Dent had made threats against her with a knife and had cut her on the back of the arm during a physical altercation. The victim stated numerous times she was afraid Myron Dent would kill her,” the affidavit said.
The victim “had visible injuries that were approximately one-half inch wide and one inch long with spacing between the injured areas that was consistent with injuries caused by a human hand grabbing the area of the neck,” the affidavit said.
Dent, who has been jailed since the Oct. 31, 2018, attack, had been released from prison in March of 2018 after serving about half of three concurrent four-year sentences for three second-degree burglaries in Payne County, the balance of which was revoked by Corley two months ago, court records show.
A DOC probation and parole officer had advised the judge that on April 12, 2018, Dent admitted to using methamphetamine for which he tested positive on April 19 and April 27, 2018, court records show.
***
