Gatesville man arrested after beating partner, pressing handgun to her neck

Emilio Coulter, 42, was arrested and booked into the Coryell County Jail Tuesday, Yahoo reported, after a Gatesville woman living with him told police he had retrieved a handgun and pressed its barrel under her jaw during a dispute, according to a complaint cited by FOX 44. FOX 44 described the firearm as a .38-caliber and said officers completed an investigation that led to an arrest warrant.

The complaint filed in the Gatesville case says the argument began when the man accused the woman of communicating with his cousin. FOX 44 reports the two were in a bedroom when the suspect allegedly began striking, slapping and shoving the victim; the affidavit says he then retrieved a handgun from a safe in the bedroom closet, put the gun in his own mouth and later pointed it at the woman before pushing her down onto a couch with his body weight on her chest.

FOX 44’s affidavit details that the barrel of the .38-caliber firearm was pressed underneath the left side of the victim’s jaw while the man yelled at her, and that the victim told police she feared “imminent serious bodily injury or death.” Officers observed visible injuries consistent with the affidavit’s allegations, listing bruising to the victim’s left bicep, wrist, hand and neck and noting the victim reported chest pain when touched.

Yahoo’s syndicated Nexstar post provided the suspect’s name and the booking-day detail; FOX 44 supplied the affidavit language. Neither FOX 44 nor the Yahoo item published formal charging language, bond amounts or an arraignment date for Coulter in the excerpts available, and FOX 44 did not identify the arresting agency by name. Court records and Coryell County Jail booking logs will need to be checked to confirm formal charges, bond and upcoming court dates.

The Gatesville arrest arrives amid other recent domestic-violence reporting in Coryell County. In a separate Copperas Cove incident reported by the Killeen Daily Herald, Damien Michael Muse was arraigned Monday by Justice of the Peace Bill Price on charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and assault to impede breathing or circulation; Justice Price set bond at $5,000 for the aggravated assault charge and $8,000 for the assault charge. Killeen Daily Herald’s account says Muse allegedly kicked a door open, grabbed the victim’s neck, swept her legs out from under her, put his knee on her chest, head-butted her, and later grabbed and pointed a gun at the victim before leaving the residence.

Historical local cases show how prosecutors and courts have handled domestic violence prosecutions in the region. Reporting by ElPasoMatters and the Texas Tribune documents that a defendant surnamed Vallo pleaded guilty in Coryell County on June 10, 2019 to choking Morgan Short and received five years deferred adjudication; days later Vallo pleaded no contest in Bell County to discharging a firearm and received nine months deferred adjudication with conditions including limited firearm access. A partial incident report cited in that coverage described officers dispatched for a “violent domestic,” and a Texas Tribune passage quoted a captain saying, “He will not have been tried for the charges we brought against him.”

The Gatesville affidavit’s description of a .38-caliber barrel pressed under a woman’s jaw and the observed bruising underline medical and public-safety concerns for victims who require timely access to health care and protective services. Reporters will continue to seek the formal charging instrument for Emilio Coulter, the arresting agency and confirmation of any medical treatment or protective orders filed on the victim’s behalf.