Man draws SWAT team response after strangling woman in Madras, police say

Published 4:09 pm Wednesday, September 13, 2023

A man in Madras with a history of domestic violence sparked a response from three law enforcement agencies and a SWAT team last week after he allegedly strangled a woman and tried to cut her with a shaving razor.

Jefferson County District Attorney Steve Leriche accused Davis Stwyer Jr., 34, of unlawful use of a weapon, strangulation, second-degree attempted assault and menacing, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

Court documents say Stwyer’s address is in Warm Springs.

The woman, with whom police say Stwyer had a romantic relationship, was taken to the hospital for an evaluation but was later released, documents show.

Stwyer was hospitalized at St. Charles Bend with a stab wound Monday. Madras Police Chief Tim Plummer told The Bulletin on Wednesday that police were still investigating whether the stabbing and the domestic violence incident were related. Stwyer was arrested when he was released from the hospital.

Of the stabbing, he said, “None of the folks who were witnesses are speaking or giving any statement.”

Police responded to an apartment building on SW Murray Street in Madras at around 4:44 p.m. on Sept. 6, after receiving a report that Stwyer had physically assaulted a woman and held a knife to her throat, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court by Madras Police Sgt. Angela Elder.

Police arrived and found a woman sitting in a car parked in front of the apartment, crying and shaking, according to Elder’s affidavit. As Elder introduced herself, the woman said “please help me; he’s going to kill me,” the affidavit says.

The Bulletin does not generally name victims of domestic violence.

The woman told Elder she had sublet an apartment to Stwyer and that they began a romantic relationship in recent weeks, the affidavit states. Disputes between them and another woman escalated into disputes and threats, she said. At one point, she said, Stwyer threatened to set her apartment on fire.

The woman said a fight broke out between them on Sept. 6, according to the affidavit. Stwyer allegedly grabbed the woman’s throat with both of his hands while also “holding a hot, glass, methamphetamine pipe in one of his hands,” the affidavit says.

“She told me he pressed the glass bowl into the side of her throat as he manually strangled her,” Elder’s affidavit says. In addition, she “described standing up onto her toes from the force of Davis Stwyer strangling her.”

The woman said Stwyer let her go, the affidavit says. As she began to leave, she alleged, Stwyer swung a razor and nearly cut her.

After police arrived and found her outside, they learned that Stwyer had an outstanding felony arrest warrant in Jefferson County.

In 2019, Stwyer’s girlfriend accused him of throwing a large piece of wood at her head, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Aldred. He later pleaded no contest to one felony count of the unlawful use of a weapon.

Stwyer was sentenced to two days in jail, with credit for time served, and three years of probation, according to court records.

But on July 21, 2020, a warrant was issued for his arrest after Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Matthew Sabbah said in court documents that he violated the terms of his probation.

Last week, officers from the Madras Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Oregon State Police and a SWAT team converged on the latest reported domestic violence incident. Plummer wrote in a news release Tuesday that this was “(d)ue to the known criminal history of the suspect.”

Police tried to contact Stwyer at the apartment, but were unsuccessful, the affidavit said. Police searched the home but couldn’t find him or the shaving razor that day.

Police continued to search for Stwyer until the reported stabbing, Plummer said in the news release. He was arrested at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Stwyer’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 21.