Man accused of body slamming wife after seeing message on her phone

A Maricopa man was arrested Sunday morning, accused of punching, body slamming and choking his wife after seeing a message on her phone from another man.

Shelby A. Hill, 29, was charged with felony aggravated assault domestic violence and related charges after an incident early Sunday morning at a home on West Picasso Street in Tortosa, police said.

Police responded to the home about 5:30 a.m. Sunday for a report of assault, according to a probable cause statement.

Hill’s wife told police that when her husband came home about 5 a.m., allegedly drunk, he came into the master bedroom, looked at her phone and saw a message from a guy, police said.

She told officers that Hill tried to look at the message, but it was deleted as soon as her phone was opened. Hill became angry and allegedly began fighting her when she tried to leave the room. She told police that she was allegedly punched, slapped, slammed to the ground and choked while being held down by her husband.

The woman said she was able to fight Hill off and run into his mother’s room, followed by Hill, where he allegedly pushed his mother to the ground and began choking his wife, police said. The wife told officers that she saw a handgun in her husband’s waistband, but that he made no threats with the weapon. When Hill grabbed the gun in his waistband, his wife punched him, the gun falling to the floor, police said. At that point, the wife ran out the front door and the husband ran out the back door, police were told.

An officer observed four broken fake nails on the woman’s right hand and a broken toenail on her left foot, police said.

Hill’s mother reported that her son pushed her, but would not go into further detail, police said. She was taken to Chandler Regional Medical Center for treatment of pain in her right shoulder.

Police said one of the wife’s children witnessed the incident and reported Hill punched his wife and mother.

Hill was located near Cordoba Street and Velazquez Drive about 7:20 a.m. and arrested by officers. He told police that his wife attacked him because he confronted her about messages on her phone. He said she allegedly bit him on the right arm, punched him and threw items at him.

He said he left the home because he believed he would be arrested as he was the male party in the altercation, the probable cause statement said. He admitted to punching one of the dressers in the bedroom, breaking a frame out of anger. He also admitted to possessing a gun.

Hill was booked into Pinal County Jail, where he remained in custody on Monday afternoon, according to online inmate records. He has a hearing scheduled for Dec. 8.

If convicted of felony aggravated assault domestic violence charge, Hill could face up to eight years in prison.