BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — The Calhoun County Prosecutor’s Office has filed homicide charges against a Battle Creek man for the beating death of his wife in December.
Calhoun County chief assistant prosecutor Dan Buscher said homicide charges have been filed against 30-year-old Christopher William-Lee Carpenter. His wife, Joyce Carpenter, 34, died in the hospital on Dec. 8, 2015. At that time, Battle Creek police said Christopher Carpenter violently beat his wife during the early morning hours of Dec. 5 and then dropped her off at the hospital, but only after she agreed to say that she had been assaulted by a group of women.
After her husband left the hospital, Joyce Carpenter then told police that her husband had actually been the one who assaulted her. Police then arrested Christopher Carpenter on aggravated assault and several other charges.
After Joyce Carpenter’s death, police said they intended to seek homicide charges against him. They said Christopher Carpenter is a repeat offender and he could be facing more serious charges due to that fact.
On Monday, Carpenter was arraigned on charges of Open Murder and Assault with Intent to Murder.
During 2011 and 2012, Christopher Carpenter was convicted of three counts of domestic violence.
Buscher said Sunday that “the delay in charges being filed was in part due to waiting for an autopsy report.”
Christopher Carpenter is being held in the Kalamazoo County Jail.
