DECATUR - A 52-year-old Decatur man is jailed under $75,000 bond after he allegedly beat his former girlfriend so badly he broke her back as well as put a gun under her chin and threatened to kill her.

The man is held on preliminary charges of aggravated domestic battery, unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated assault with a firearm and possession of a firearm and ammunition with no firearm owner's identification card.

Formal charges to be filed are still under discussion, said Jane Spittler, a Macon County assistant state's attorney who handles domestic battery cases.

During a court appearance Tuesday, Associate Judge Timothy Steadman told the man if he posts bond he is prohibited from contacting the injured woman or going to her rural Argenta residence.

Spittler also went to court Tuesday on the woman's behalf and obtained an emergency order of protection for her naming the 52-year-old man as the party prohibited from having any contact with her.

Spittler said she visited the woman Tuesday in the hospital and found she had undergone more than eight hours of surgery Monday. She said the woman desired the order out of concern for herself and members of her family.

The suspect originally was arrested Saturday for misdemeanor domestic battery when sheriff's deputies were called to the woman's home in regard to a domestic dispute. After his bond was set at $5,000, he was freed from jail after posting $500 cash bail.

However, he was arrested again Monday for felony aggravated domestic battery after a woman staying at the victim's house reported to deputies that she observed the man drive past the house Saturday and after he had left telephone messages on the victim's home phone stating he still loved her, said sheriff's deputy Todd Choatie in a sworn statement filed in court.

Deputies learned Monday that the female victim was undergoing surgery to repair cervical vertebrae that had been broken at a 90-degree angle, a steel plate was installed and two disks were replaced, Choatie said. Physicians stated more extensive surgeries will be required and that damage to her spine came within a half-inch of leaving her paralyzed, he said.

Because of the woman's statement to deputies that the man had placed a long gun to her chin and threatened to kill her, deputies went to the man's residence Monday and requested permission to search it, which he granted, Choatie said. Found were .410-gauge and 12-gauge shotgun shells, .30-.30 rifle shells, a 20-gauge shotgun and .22-caliber bullets, he said.

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