(Stillwater, Okla.) – A Cushing man convicted of hitting a man twice in the head with an axe has been given a jury-recommended one-year county jail term by Payne County District Judge Phillip Corley.
    Julio C. Flores, 38, who worked as a welder, was also ordered to pay $32,983 restitution and the cost of his incarceration by the judge at his Sept. 13 sentencing, court records show.
    A Payne County jury had deliberated for nearly six hours on July 31 before finding Flores guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, for which it recommended the minimum possible sentence, court officials said.
    The victim had a 13 cm long head laceration and a 1.4 cm long skull depression with bleeding inside and outside of his skull including an arterial bleed, a police affidavit said.
    In a pre-sentencing report ordered by the judge, the victim said “the last memory he had was of the defendant yelling at him and running towards him.”
    The victim “reported he spent five days in the hospital and has over $100,000 in medical bills. He believes crime victim compensation is going to help him pay some of his medical bills, but the rest he will have to pay himself,” the report said.
    “He claimed he was unable to work for about two years because of his injury,” with memory loss, mood swings and depression, the report said.
    Flores told the probation and parole officer, who compiled the pre-sentencing report, that he was born in Mexico and moved in 2005 to Arkansas on a tourism visa, court records show.
    “On March 27, 2007, the defendant obtained his permanent resident card, which expires on July 23, 2019. The defendant lived in Arkansas from 2005 to 2011, when he moved to Cushing, Oklahoma,” the report said.
    Flores married in 2005 and has four children including a baby, the report said.
    “Mrs. Flores told this officer the defendant has never shown any acts of violence towards her or the children. She believes the only reason he is in trouble is because he was protecting her.
    “She plans to remain married to the defendant and if he is deported to Mexico, she and her children will move to Mexico also,” the report said.
    “The defendant completed a welding program in October 2015, as verified by Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater, Oklahoma,” the report said.
    “This officer received the defendants last full pay stub dated July 27, 2018. His check totaled $892.89 for one week’s pay,” but he is now unemployed since he was jailed in July, following his conviction, the report said.
    “In his original statement to police, the defendant reported he was defending his wife from (the victim), who had pushed the defendant’s wife. Yet, both witnesses, including the defendant’s wife, claimed (the victim) made no physical contact with them or the defendant,” the report said.
    “The defendant never took responsibility for his actions and blamed the victim for starting the argument which preceded the assault. The defendant showed no signs of remorse and offered no restitution to the victim or the victim’s family.
    “The defendant has no prior history of assault and this incident appears to have been situational in nature. However, the defendant displayed impulsive and aggressive behaviors that resulted in grave injuries to the victim, then offered no assistance to the injured man,” according to the report, which concurred with the jury’s recommended sentence.
    On Sept. 11, 2016, at about 12:25 a.m. police were sent to the 1300 block of E. Walnut Street in Cushing regarding the incident, an affidavit said.
    The victim, who was being treated by ambulance personnel, had a large head laceration across the left side of his scalp and his face was covered with blood, a police affidavit sad. He also had a laceration over his lip, the affidavit said.
    The victim “was standing upon my arrival and appeared alert; however, he was unable to form sentences. He would attempt to speak, but would only make noises. He was very distressed and crying,” Cushing Police Officer Shelby Sewell wrote in the affidavit.
    Two women were standing with the victim in the intersection of Michigan and Walnut Streets, the affidavit said.
    One of them, who was the defendant’s wife, said that the victim had previously dated the other woman, but they had split and the victim was now bothering her, the affidavit said.
    The defendant’s wife said that the victim showed up at her residence where they were having a cook-out and yelled insults at his former girlfriend, the affidavit said.
    “She stated Julio had the axe in his hand because he had just been chopping wood. She stated he told (the victim) to leave, but he didn’t and Julio struck (the victim) once with the axe with the blunt side. She stated she got in between them and took the axe away from Julio. She stated Julio walked away and there was no other physical contact between the two,” the affidavit said.
    The victim’s ex-girlfriend said that the victim “showed up and was calling her a liar and yelling things at her. She stated he was being rude and she pushed,” him, the affidavit said.
    “She stated that Julio ‘lost it’ and came over there and struck (the victim) with the axe. She stated Julio struck (the victim) twice and (the victim) fell to the ground and started shaking like he was having a seizure. She stated that Julio walked away, then came back without the axe and struck (the victim) again with his fist while (the victim) was on the ground,” the affidavit said.
    She was upset because the victim “was trying to get away and wouldn’t sit down or let her help him,” the affidavit said. She said that the victim never struck Flores or her, the affidavit said.
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