One person charged, another released following domestic incident in Kellogg

WALLACE — A Kellogg woman was charged with aggravated battery with traumatic injury following an incident Friday night.  

Christina Axtman, 44, was arrested just before midnight after Kellogg Police responded to a reported physical altercation in progress at a residence in Kellogg. According to the probable cause affidavit, KPD officer Dameon Groves arrived at the home where he took Timothy True, one of the home’s occupants and Axtman’s fiancé, into custody and interviewed him about the incident.  

True said the altercation began after both he and Axtman had been drinking and it escalated from verbal to physical after Axtman reportedly began making suicidal comments and attempted to access the contents within the couple’s gun safe. According to True, he grabbed Axtman by the arms and then pinned her against the ground to prevent her from accessing the safe.  

During his interview with True, Officer Groves documented seeing several wounds on True’s head and neck that True said were scratches he sustained while restraining Axtman.  

Groves then went to interview Axtman, who gave several different accounts of the evening’s events. He reported observing bruises on Axtman’s arms, consistent with True’s account of the incident. But Axtman also claimed much more had taken place. Including allegedly telling Groves that True had thrown an ax at her, punched her several times, attempted to stab her, choked her and stabbed her in the neck with a needle.  

However, during Groves’ investigation, there was no evidence to support the claims. 

According to the report from Groves, True bargained with Axtman during their struggle that he would let her up if she promised not to go toward the gun safe. Axtman agreed, but then began breaking wine glasses in their kitchen. In his report, Groves stated he found broken glass on the kitchen floor.  

Axtman’s adult son made the initial call to law enforcement and was at the residence for part of the incident. He told Groves that he hadn’t seen anything violent happen between Axtman and True. 

However, the son did say that his mother had struck him after he reportedly told her to “act her age.” He struck her back after Axtman allegedly referred to his girlfriend in a derogatory manner and then subsequently left the residence before returning after law enforcement arrived.  

Both True and Axtman were arrested for aggravated battery, but due to the nature of the incident, the Shoshone County Prosecutor’s Office decided not to pursue any charges against True.  

Axtman was charged with aggravated battery with traumatic injury during her first appearance in court Monday. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison. 

Axtman’s bail was set at $2,500.