Knoxville Man Sentenced to 3 Years for Aggravated Domestic Assault and Victim Intimidation

A Knoxville man has been sentenced to three years imprisonment following a domestic assault in which the perpetrator later tried to convince the victim to not report the crime, and subsequently blamed the victim for her own injuries. WVLT has reported on the sentencing of Landon Sanders, 41, who was convicted of aggravated assault and domestic assault by Knox County authorities.

According to the Knox County District Attorney, Charme Allen, Knoxville Police responded to an assault report at Tennova North Medical Center on November 4, 2022. There, officers spoke to a woman who had suffered severe harm. The victim claimed she was attacked at her home after Sanders got drunk and grew enraged due to a previous domestic disturbance call she had made to the police. As detailed in a statement obtained by NewsTalk987, over a span of four hours, Sanders strangled and punched her, knocked her down, kicked her repeatedly, and humiliatingly urinated on her.

With substantial injuries, including an eye almost swollen shut, the victim was able to secretly text her sister for help, who then took her to the hospital for treatment. It was there that law enforcement was alerted to the violent ordeal. WATE highlighted the severity of the victim's condition, noting that she was treated for bruises that were present all over her body.

Further complicating the case, Sanders reached out to the victim after the assault, texting her to beg her not to contact police. However, during the trial, the defense made the bold claim that the victim had inflicted the injuries upon herself, supposedly in an attempt to set Sanders up. The jury did not accept this narrative, and Sanders was convicted on the charges brought forth by the District Attorney's office. "I am incredibly proud of my staff who fight hard every day to achieve justice and protect victims," DA Allen told WVLT in the wake of the sentencing.