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Police Issue Warrant For Man In Domestic Beating

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By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 8, 2008

Marvin Jefferson

TAMPA - Detectives have issued an arrest warrant for a man who they say punched and kicked his pregnant wife.

Marvin Laray Jefferson, 41, of 8007 Green Shire Drive, Tampa, is wanted on charges of aggravated battery of a pregnant female and false imprisonment, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

On Monday, Jefferson repeatedly struck his wife of two years, Chavillia Monique Jefferson, 31, in the face with a closed fist then kicked her in the back, the sheriff's office said.

Chavillia Jefferson, who is five months pregnant, said her husband then locked her in an upstairs bedroom. Marvin Jefferson left the house and has not been seen since about 11 p.m. Monday.
"He was just in a bad mood all day," Chavillia Jefferson said today.

Jefferson said she broke a window in the bedroom and was able to call out to neighbors for help. She and Marvin Jefferson have a 1-year-old child and her husband has two teenaged children from a previous marriage, she said.

Chavillia Jefferson has since filed a domestic violence injunction against her husband.

"He's always been terrorizing," she said. "I saw the signs. But I didn't think he would do something like this."

Marvin Jefferson is the son of Melvin B. Jefferson, bishop of Deeper Life Christian Church in Tampa. Marvin Jefferson is not a pastor or elder in the church but has led elder meetings and taught classes, Chavillia Jefferson said.

She said that her husband's sister, Kenya, called her Tuesday to get her side of the story, which she will relay to Marvin Jefferson's father.

Chavillia Jefferson said she and her unborn baby are fine. She was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa on Monday night.

"My face is swollen," she said. "I look like a totally different person. And I have to be around my kids."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 873-8477.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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