An Evans man was arrested Thursday after an altercation with his girlfriend in which he allegedly placed a loaded firearm in her mouth and threatened to kill her.

James Russell Sayre, 38, of Evans currently faces one felony count of malicious wounding in the case.

According to the complaint filed in Magistrate Court by West Virginia State Police Sergeant S.E. Wolfe, on January 11, Sayre allegedly engaged in a heated argument with his live-in girlfiend at his Given Road home.

According to the complaint, Sayre allegedly struck her several times in the face and head and also picked her up and threw her against several stationary objects.

The victim suffered serious bruising and abrasions to her body and face, as well as a broken nose and two black eyes.

Also during the incident, Sayre allegedly loaded a firearm in the victim’s presence then placed it into her mouth and threatened to kill her.

According to the complaint, Sayre has a current Domestic Violence Petition in effect and is not supposed to be in possession of a firearm.

Sgt. Wolfe investigated the incident and collected physical and photographic evidence prior to placing Sayre under arrest.

Sayre was arraigned before Magistrate  Tom Reynolds and is currently being held in South Central Regional Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond.

In addition to this incident, Sayre also had a pending domestic assault case in Magistrate Court. Prosecuting Attorney Jim McHugh’s office filed a motion to revoke bond in that case.

In addition to that pending charge, Sayre also had several domestic assault and battery complaints filed against him dating back to January 1999; those charges were dismissed, however, after Sayre and the victim in those cases made attempts to reconcile. Sayre was ordered to undergo anger management as a condition of the dismissal of the prior cases.

Victim Advocate Melissa Wilkinson said the case highlights the seriousness of domestic violence and the importance of deterring it early before instances escalate and become more violent.

“I think this was the worst domestic violence case I’ve seen in my eight years as a victims advocate,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson encourages anyone who may be a victim of domestic violence to contact her office at 373-2275 for assistance.