Taunton man who violently assaulted ex-girlfriend, set property on fire, sentenced to prison

A 57-year-old Taunton man who broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home, set her personal property on fire and violently assaulted her, was sentenced Tuesday in Fall River Superior Court to serve up to five years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Isidro Batista pleaded guilty to indictments charging him with aggravated assault and battery with serious bodily injury, malicious destruction of property, breaking and entering, and domestic assault and battery.

The defendant and victim were in a six-month dating relationship that recently ended at the time of the May 13, 2018 incident.

On this date, the defendant broke into her house and started a fire in her home while she was at her daughter’s First Communion. The defendant then brutally beat her once she got home.

The victim arrived to her home in disarray. She immediately smelled smoke and saw papers that had been placed on the stove, smoldering and turning to ash. The papers burning were her immigration documents, passport, airline tickets to Portugal and cash. As she walked through the house, she noticed that pictures were knocked from the walls and the bedroom mattress was flipped over. When she went into the bedroom, she discovered the defendant hiding behind the bedroom door.

The defendant covered the victim’s mouth and stated repeatedly that he was going to kill her. The victim broke from his grasp and ran outside. The defendant chased after her, slapped the victim’s phone away when she attempted to call the police, tackled her and pinned the victim to the ground. While on the ground, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled out large clumps. He proceeded to punch her in the face with a closed fist multiple times while repeating that he was going to kill her. The victim does not recall anything beyond this point.

A male neighbor witnessed the incident occurring and ran over to intervene. The witness was able to overcome the defendant and subdued him until police arrived.

The victim sustained several broken bones in her face, lost two teeth and had severe bruising on her face and neck.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Courtney Cahill, the chief of DA Quinn’s Domestic Violence Unit. ADA Cahill argued for a more severe eight to ten year state prison term due to the vicious nature of the attack. The defense, however, recommended a more lenient two year state prison term.

Judge Thomas J. Perrino sentenced the defendant to serve four-and-a-half to five years in state prison, to be followed by three years of supervised probation. Probationary terms include wearing a GPS monitoring device, staying away from the victim and completing a domestic batterers counseling program.

“This was a brutal case of domestic violence. The defendant even chased the victim outside and continued to pummel her. Fortunately, a witness had the courage to intervene and stop the violent assault. I commend him for that. This defendant clearly belongs off the street based on his very violent conduct,” District Attorney Quinn said.