DA Howard Sends Strong Message Regarding Domestic Violence Incident
Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Howard has little tolerance for people who hurt others, especially those who hurt the ones they claim to love.
“Domestic violence is a very real and insidious crime among family members,” said DA Howard. “Victims of domestic violence are often vulnerable to the controlling acts of their perpetrators. My office will not tolerate defendants pressuring and terrorizing victims with additional threats of violence for participating in the prosecution of these crimes.”
As a first-time offender, Jayvon Latrez Anthony, 28 was provided an opportunity to get the help he needed to avoid landing himself in trouble again. On December 14, 2016, Anthony pled guilty as a first offender to Aggravated Assault, which involved domestic violence against a family member. He was required to serve 180 days at a Probation Detention Center and 10 years on probation.
Unfortunately, on April 25, 2022, Mr. Anthony committed Cruelty to Children in the First Degree against his young son by forcefully punching the child, who was 4 years old at the time, in the chest because the child told his mother the truth about their whereabouts earlier that day. Anthony then tried to threaten and to pressure the child’s mother not to cooperate with authorities in the prosecution of these charges.
This week, rather than face a bench trial in Bibb Superior Court on the revocation of his previous sentence and his current charge, Mr. Anthony pled guilty. The court resentenced him to 20 years and revoked the remaining time of his previous sentence to be served in prison, which is a little more than 14 years. On the new charge of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree, Mr. Anthony received 20 years, with the first 10 to be served in jail.
The Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office thanks the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of this case. Special thanks to the boy’s mother for her bravery and cooperation with law enforcement so we could hold Mr. Anthony accountable, despite the threats against her.
