MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Surrounded by cameras, Joseph Kyles made his way into a Shelby County Courtroom just days after police say he choked his pregnant girlfriend because she wouldn’t get an abortion.
Kyles wasn’t about to answer anyone’s questions.
Instead he went on a tangent about pay for jailers.
“When you look at what the deputy jailers are going through in terms of a two percent raise and you think about their insurances going up,” he said.
We asked once more about the topic at hand, to which he replied we would have to contact his attorneys.
Kyles is facing some serious charges after police said he grabbed his girlfriend by the neck and forced her up against a wall in the lobby of a downtown condo.
Police told WREG they have evidence, but the victim wouldn’t identify Kyles out of fear.
At the hospital, staff said the victim could barely get a word in edgewise as Kyles allegedly answered for her.
Authorities were even told he bossed the nurses around.
Jordan Howard with the Family Safety Center said it happens all the time.
“The person is really clingy and won`t leave the victim`s side, and it`s because they`re trying to get them to say the right things so that they don`t turn them in.”
She said oftentimes police have trouble getting victims to identify their attacker.
“It`s very common for victims to be that afraid. We estimate that for every one case that we hear about, there are ten that we never do.”