Searcy Man Shot By Wife Is Charged With Choking Her, Pointing Rifle At Her

SEARCY, Ark. – A 25-year-old Searcy man who was shot in the leg by his wife last month has been charged with choking her and coming at her with an AR-style rifle while their two small children were in the next room.

Nikolas Damion Gaskin was charged Monday in White County Circuit Court with two counts of aggravated assault on a family or household member and two misdemeanor counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. Prosecutors are also seeking an enhanced sentence for the alleged use of a firearm.

Searcy police were sent to a home in the 800 block of North Holly Street at about 3:02 a.m. Aug. 2 for a report of shots fired, according to a probable cause affidavit. Officers found Gaskin inside with a gunshot wound to his upper left thigh and an AR-style rifle on the floor near him.

Gaskin told officers his two children were in a bedroom and that he had been drinking since about 2 p.m. the day before, the affidavit said. Officers reported seeing multiple bottles of alcohol, a Glock handgun, a spent shell casing and drug paraphernalia in the house.

While officers were giving him first aid, Gaskin “spontaneously stated” that he had put his hands around his wife’s throat during the altercation, the affidavit said.

Officers found the children, who are about 3 and 2 years old, in a bedroom next to the kitchen. One was awake and crying and the other was asleep. They were released to their grandmother, the affidavit said.

Gaskin’s wife told Detective Haley Dinapoli the fight began when Gaskin became angry with her. She said he shoved her into a vehicle several times outside the house, then grabbed her by her clothes once they were inside and pulled her off the couch onto the floor, the affidavit said.

She said Gaskin put both hands around her neck and strangled her. She told the detective she thought she was going to pass out or be killed and fought back by hitting and kicking him until she was able to get away into the kitchen, the affidavit said.

The woman said she got a handgun because she feared for her life and saw Gaskin get an AR-style rifle from another room. She said he kept yelling and walking toward her with the rifle while she told him repeatedly not to come any closer, the affidavit said.

She told the detective Gaskin pointed the rifle in her direction as he kept coming and that she believed he was about to shoot her. She fired one round, hitting him in the leg, the affidavit said.

Photographs taken during the interview show redness and marks around the woman’s neck and bruising on her hands, knees and legs, the affidavit said.

Three witnesses told police they saw Gaskin holding the woman against a vehicle outside the house. One of them said she was walking back toward the house when she heard yelling and a single gunshot, the affidavit said.

“You were choking me, Nik,” the witness heard the woman say, according to the affidavit. The witness called 911.

Another witness said she believed the woman acted in self-defense, the affidavit said.

Gaskin gave police a written statement in which he said his wife hit him several times during the argument. He allegedly admitted that he put his hands around her neck and choked her and said he did it because he wanted her to stop hitting him, the affidavit said.

Searcy police Lt. Todd Wells told the White County Citizen in August that the gunshot wound was not self-inflicted. The newspaper reported Aug. 6 that Gaskin was being held in the White County Detention Center.

Circuit Judge Mark Pate signed a warrant for Gaskin’s arrest on the formal charges Sept. 25 and set bond at $10,000, court records show.

Aggravated assault on a family or household member is a Class D felony punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The firearm enhancement carries up to 15 additional years. Endangering the welfare of a minor in the third degree is punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dee Studebaker is representing the state. An attorney of record was not listed Monday for Gaskin, and no court date has been set.