23-year-old Kai Milton Hampton had a domestic altercation with his pregnant 17-year-old girlfriend, JC, near the Olive Garden on Opry Mills Drive late February 27th. Dispatch advised them that they were in a silver Kia Optima, which officers observed leaving the scene towards Briley Parkway South before following it and conducting an investigative stop. As they approached the Optima, they noticed Hampton and JC matched the description of the two involved in the incident. JC told officers that she and Hampton argued while walking to their car after dinner, during which she lay on the sidewalk, refusing to get up. Then, she said he forcefully picked her up, attempting to take her to the car, so she pulled his hair to make him release her, stating she did not want to be handled that way. Hampton then grabbed her neck from behind with two hands and started squeezing. JC said that this made breathing slightly difficult for her and made her dizzy.
Then, she explained how he had her pressed up against the Kia until her mother, Breanne Gautier, confronted him, causing him to release her. She said she watched him approach her mom and grab her arms, threatening to hit her if she continued to intervene. JC said that things deescalated after she and Hampton got into the car. Gautier spoke to the officers, advising them she had seen him with his hand around her neck, attacking her, so she rushed over there to protect JC. She said it was at this time that he grabbed her by her arms, threatening her and that she was afraid but was not going to back down. Then, after he released her, she got into her car, and they got into JC’s Kia. They went to leave as the officers arrived. Detectives noticed visible injuries that JC sustained during the incident and deemed Hampton as the primary aggressor. He was taken into custody for two counts of domestic assault on February 28th.