A 25-year-old Hendersonville man faces felony charges after police say he tried to strangle his girlfriend during a domestic dispute on Sept. 13.

Jon'terio Z. Horton was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated assault involving strangulation and one count of aggravated trespass, the Hendersonville Standard reported, citing court records.

Hendersonville police responded around 4:30 a.m. that Sunday to a residence on Jamestown Place. Dispatch told officers the caller reported her boyfriend had a gun and had threatened to kill her and shoot up the home.

Officers took Horton into custody without incident.

The alleged victim told police she had ordered Horton to leave after learning he was cheating on her. She said he left but re-entered the home through a bedroom window. She alleged Horton grabbed a gun, then a knife, and threatened to kill her. She also told officers he threw her on the bed, straddled her and began to strangle her before leaving.

Police reported observing a large mark around the alleged victim's neck and a broken window screen on the ground outside the home.

Horton told police he had overheard his girlfriend talking with another man on the phone and believed she was cheating on him, according to the Standard's account of court records. He claimed she had picked up a gun and threatened him, and that she had hit him. Police said they found no sign of physical harm to Horton but noted he appeared intoxicated, with bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and an odor of alcohol.

Horton was booked into the Sumner County Jail on $50,000 bond. He was scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on Sept. 29. No outcome from that hearing appears in public records.

Under Tennessee law, aggravated assault involving strangulation is a Class C felony punishable by three to 15 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. The Debbie and Marie Domestic Violence Protection Act, which took effect July 1, 2024, established a 30-day mandatory minimum sentence for domestic assault convictions involving strangulation.

"It's not a red flag; it is practicing to kill," Heather Herrmann of the Metro Nashville Office of Family Safety said in June 2023, when the strangulation penalties were strengthened.

According to Nashville's Office of Family Safety, strangulation increases a domestic violence victim's risk of being killed more than sevenfold, as reported by Hoodline.

Anyone experiencing domestic violence can call the Tennessee statewide 24-hour hotline at 1-800-356-6767. To report information to Hendersonville police, call the non-emergency line at 615-822-1111 or Hendersonville Crime Stoppers at 615-594-4113.