[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 10/23/20]
GROVELAND, Florida — A man who apparently has a personality named Fluffy was arrested for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon Thursday after the victim told a Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputy he had a mental breakdown and tried to kill her.
LCSO responded to Kijik Trail in response to a call about a female with a cut on the corner of her mouth who was saying someone was trying to kill her, according to an arrest affidavit. LCSO approached the victim, who was visibly upset and looking around, and she told LCSO she had to leave because “Nate” was trying to kill her. The deputy clarified she was referring to Nathan Samuel Axton, 37, and she told the deputy that just before noon, she and Nate got into an “intense fight” that began in his camper, according to the affidavit.
She said Axton was having a mental breakdown and Fluffy tried to kill her. When the deputy asked who Fluffy was, she said it was Axton’s other personality, the affidavit states. The victim said Axton tried to fashion a noose out of a cord in attempt to hang her and then wrapped it around her head from behind, pulling it across her mouth and cutting her. The victim pushed an air conditioner out of a window and escaped, according to the affidavit. Axton then grabbed her around the throat with his arm, she pretended she was unconscious, and he dragged back to the camper, she told deputies.
The victim talked to Axton to try to calm him down and he became angry again and threatened to shoot her with a shotgun that was in the camper. She ran in the camper and grabbed the shotgun and fired several times in the air before throwing it, she told LCSO. She ran into a wooded area and Axton chased her; while trying to jump over palmetto bushes, she fell and Axton pushed her into a tree. She broke free and fled to a neighbor for help.
While the victim was speaking with deputies, Axton’s father approached them and told LCSO he would bring his son to speak with them. Axton agreed to speak with deputies and said he allowed the woman to stay with him to help her and they were not in a relationship. He said he confronted her about some missing items, including his father’s debit card and she tried to leave, according to the affidavit, Axton said he tried to stop her, but she pushed the air conditioner out and fled through a window. He denied choking her and chasing her and said he was a convicted felon and did not have a shotgun.
Axton had numerous fresh scratches and LCSO found the cord allegedly used to choke the victim. The complainant told LCSO she heard three to four gunshots before calling for help. Axton was taken into custody and is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
