Desert Hot Springs Man to be Sentenced for Assaulting Wife

INDIO, CA – A Desert Hot Springs man was scheduled to be sentenced today for holding a woman -- who later became his wife -- against her will and beating her over the course of several days, then attacking her again after being released on bail.

A jury deliberated for about three hours last month before finding Marshall Eddie Jones Jr., 49, guilty of all charges he faced, including mayhem, domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and dissuading a witness.

The case was first brought to law enforcement's attention Jan. 5, 2016, when the victim -- identified as Jane Doe in court documents -- was found suffering from injuries caused by pistol-whipping and blows from a wooden stick and a belt, according to the prosecution.

She was hospitalized with fractures to her legs and had partial loss of sight from being whipped in the eyes with the belt, prosecutors said.

Police concluded that the attack occurred at Jones' Desert Hot Springs home, where he was arrested that day. He was later freed on bail and ordered to return to court in February.

The two wed during the interim, according to the prosecution.

One day before Jones was due back in court, Desert Hot Springs police were called to Desert Regional Medical Center, where Jane Doe was hospitalized again, this time with multiple injuries suffered in the month since his release, authorities said.

The woman had casts on each of her limbs as a result of the beatings. According to the prosecution's trial brief, the victim had been assaulted again with a wooden stick, pistol-whipped and punched.

Prosecutors said that between the two attacks, Doe recanted several details regarding the January assault to D.A.'s investigators, due to threats from Jones. She also maintained that a man named "Avril Black" had assaulted her and not Jones, which prosecutors claim she said under threats of violence.

Jones was taken into custody on a felony arrest warrant in March during a traffic stop in Desert Hot Springs.

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--City News Service/Shutterstock image