A Zanesville man was sentenced in common pleas court Wednesday morning to two counts of domestic violence stemming from an incident on April 16 in which the defendant violently attacked multiple members of his family.

Justin Newman, 23-years-old, appeared in court wearing a jail jumpsuit after failing to appear at his previous sentencing date while out on bond.

As previously reported, Newman had begun arguing with his girlfriend over Facebook, which then escalated into a physical altercation in which he began kicking her multiple times in the back.

The girlfriend had just recently had back surgery and Newman began to target that portion of her back as he stomped on her repeatedly, Litle explained in a June court session.

Newman’s mother, who lives in a shed in the backyard, was observing the altercation but didn’t intervene until she witnessed Newman began to also attack the family dog.

According to Litle, the mother later said she didn’t initially get involved because she was okay with Newman beating his girlfriend, as he had beat her before and she would return to the home.

When the mother did try to intervene, Newman shoved her over, hitting his mother in the back of the head and continued to beat his girlfriend in a fit of rage, said Litle.

Newman threatened to kill his mother if anyone called the cops. When the girlfriend ran away to her mother’s house, Newman also threatened to kill the family dog.

Originally Judge Mark Fleegle had continued Newman’s bond of $25,000 following his pleas of guilty on June 22, however, following his failure to appear at sentencing, Newman was arrested and remained in custody at the Muskingum County Jail.

Newman told the judge he didn’t have a ride to court the day of his sentencing.

When addressing Newman’s presentencing investigation (PSI) Fleegle noted that he also had a previous domestic violence case from November 2017.

“There were two victims in this case,” said Fleegle. “That doesn’t include the dog.”

Newman was sentenced to 16 months in prison on each count of domestic violence, to be served concurrently and will be ordered to pay court cost in the case.

The condition of either of the victims or the dog was not provided in court.