MORRISTOWN (WATE) – A Hamblen County father faces several charges after deputies say he shot his 8-year-old girl with a pellet gun and carved an “M” into her right arm.
Jose De Jesus Jimenez-Merchant, 22, is charged with aggravated assault and child abuse.
An incident report from the sheriff’s office says a school nurse was notified Wednesday that the girl said he father shot her in the stomach with an air soft pistol. Deputies say the girl had injuries matching a shot from a pellet gun and an “M” cared into her right arm.
The girl said her father made fun of her because of her last name and has shot her twice before. She said the “M” was to “label her as a Merchant now.”
Merchant was arrested and taken to the Hamblen County Jail. Twenty-one air soft pellets were recovered from the front porch of his home.
