A 39-year-old Rome man is facing a stack of charges after police say he shot a 40-year-old woman in the hand at a home on Cleveland Avenue, an injury so severe that she lost use of the hand entirely. Mynor Valasquez was arrested this week in connection with the shooting, according to authorities.
As reported by Coosa Valley News, Valasquez was arrested after reports said he shot the woman at the Cleveland Avenue residence. Police said the gunshot wound to her hand left her unable to use it going forward, according to the same report.
Fleeing Driver Had No License, Fake ID
Reports further indicate that Valasquez drove away from the scene without a valid driver's license. Investigators also discovered he was carrying an identification card bearing a fake date of birth, the outlet's report states.
Those discoveries added fraud and licensing charges on top of the violence allegations. Per the same account, Valasquez now faces aggravated assault, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, driving without a license, and unlawful possession of fraudulent documents.
Georgia law defines aggravated battery to include maliciously causing bodily harm by rendering a body member useless, depriving someone of it, or seriously disfiguring it; the statute generally provides for one to 20 years in prison upon conviction, with exceptions. A separate law covers having a firearm on or within arm’s reach while committing certain crimes involving another person, and provides for a three-to-five-year prison term upon conviction. These statutes describe potential penalties, not a finding of guilt. Georgia’s aggravated-battery statute and firearm-during-a-crime law set out those provisions.
A Name in Question
One detail remains unsettled in the public record: the spelling of the suspect's surname. The original report refers to him as Valasquez when describing the arrest, but lists the charges under the spelling Velasquez — a discrepancy that has not been independently resolved.
No additional details have been released about the victim's identity, her current condition beyond the loss of use of her hand, or any court dates in the case. The investigation and judicial process remain in their early stages.
The charges remain allegations as the case proceeds. In Georgia, magistrate courts issue arrest warrants and may hold preliminary hearings, while superior courts preside over felony trials. Floyd County is part of the Rome Circuit. An arrest does not by itself establish that prosecutors have filed an indictment or that a court date has been set; those are separate steps in the criminal process. Georgia’s court system assigns those roles, and Floyd County is within the Rome Circuit.
