Duncan man charged with assaulting girlfriend, 4-day-old son

DUNCAN — A Stephens County man is in jail on $75,000 bond after he was accused of a drunken domestic assault that caused his 4-day-old son.

Michael Torrez Mitchell, 33, of Duncan, made his initial appearance Friday in Stephens where he received a trio of felony charges: child abuse, child neglect and domestic assault and battery by strangulation after former felony conviction, records indicate. Each count is punishable by up to life in prison.

Stephens County Sheriff’s Deputy Ronald Pruitt stated he was called to a home shortly before 10 p.m. Dec. 7 regarding a domestic assault. The woman told investigators Mitchell had pushed her down while holding their infant son and the child become unresponsive and stopped breathing, the probable cause affidavit states. Once at the hospital, the infant was breathing again but was taken to OU Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City for care.

The woman told Pruitt Mitchell had been intoxicated and was playing rough with her older four children and had bitten the 8-year-old on the leg, the affidavit states. She sent the kids to bed and, she said, Mitchell became irate, throwing a chair and taking the phone from her, Pruitt stated. At one point, she said, she locked him out of the home but he pulled the air conditioner from the window and reentered.

While gathering the children to leave and carrying the infant, the woman said Mitchell shoved her down, causing the child to hit his head on the door frame, according to the affidavit. The woman said Mitchell began choking her to where she thought she was losing consciousness.

Pruitt stated the woman had red marks around her neck and her eyes were bloodshot, along with bruising that was consistent with her story.

Mitchell has a prior felony conviction in Stephens County from April 2012 for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, records indicate.

Ordered to have no contact with the woman or children, Mitchell returns to court at 9 a.m. Feb. 19, 2025, for his preliminary hearing conference.