A man in Texas was sentenced to seven decades in prison after assaulting his girlfriend and branding her with a heated belt buckle.
David Shawn Minze, 39, a prolific felon, choked his then-girlfriend during the December 2018 assault, used scissors to cut her clothes apart, and then used a lighter to heat up a western-style belt buckle with a large letter “S,” pushing the heated metal onto the victim’s upper buttocks and leaving a scar.
“The branding was his way to show her that he was the dominant person in this relationship and express ownership of her, like you would with cattle,” Parker County Assistant District Attorney Abby Placke said in a Thursday press release.
During the trial, the woman testified that she and Minze had a turbulent on-and-off-again relationship because of his abuse and methamphetamine use. When the attack occurred, she said they were not in a relationship.
Minze had six prior felony convictions when he was picked up by police in December. After hearing the testimony, the jury took two hours to find Minze guilty of felony assault and 45 minutes to hand down the 70-year sentence.
“The jurors in this case did a great job in telling the abusers that live among us that Parker County citizens take these cases seriously,” Assistant District Attorney Jeff Swain said.
He will be eligible for parole in 15 years, but Minze’s attorneys told the court that he intends to appeal Wednesday’s conviction and sentencing.
