MONROE — An Albany couple out on bond for alleged drug offenses and child neglect face new charges stemming from an altercation at their home June 26.
Stephen Duane Detra Sr., 45, and Ashley Shawntae Smith, 30, each face five counts of felony bail jumping for violating their conditions of bond in Green County Circuit Court. They’re also charged with misdemeanor counts of battery, disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.
In addition, Detra is charged with strangulation and suffocation, a Class H felony punishable by up to six years in prison.
According to court records, a family member called police to the home at 305 W. Nichols St. after witnessing Detra choke Smith. A responding officer observed that Smith was limping and bleeding from her right leg.
Smith told police she and Detra started arguing because she did not have dinner ready when he got home from work and their arguing continued because another woman was “blowing up” his phone with text messages.
She told police Detra strangled her three times and she lost consciousness two of the times. She said he “was laughing as he was strangling her.”
Police determined Detra was the primary aggressor. However, the investigation also found that both Detra and Smith grabbed knives and smashed each other’s phones in the course of the fight. Detra had been drinking gin and blew a 0.119% blood-alcohol concentration in a breathalyzer test. Smith admitted to smoking marijuana hours earlier.
The incident comes two months after charges were filed against the couple for felony child neglect and maintaining a drug-trafficking place. A search warrant executed in April found their home in “complete disarray,” littered with drug paraphernalia and emitting an “overly pungent smell of urine and garbage,” according to court records.
Police reported observing a crack pipe and cocaine “within reach of young children.” Detra and Smith’s children, ages 1 and 3, were removed from the home. Police found no specific injuries or harm to the children, but witnesses reported physical abuse and infrequent diaper changes that caused rashes.
Both have entered pleas of not guilty.
For the more recent charges, Detra signed another bond June 28, with conditions including no contact with Smith and no drinking or going into bars or liquor stores. Smith, who has changed her address to a home in Sun Prairie, has not yet made her initial appearance in court.