Police have charged Esmond Dermont Sparks with choking and then raping his former girlfriend.
Sparks, 38, of 3720 Wilcox Blvd., is charged with aggravated rape, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping.
The alleged victim said she had been dating Sparks for about three years. She said in the incident on Wednesday they were at her apartment in Hixson when they began arguing and she asked him to leave.
She said he put his arms around her neck and strangled her to the point that she passed out. She said when she awakened he ordered her upstairs. She said once they were upstairs he pleaded with her to take him back. She said she agreed hoping he would not harm her any further.
She said she then picked up her small toddler and held her in hopes that would deter him from harming her.
She said Sparks began asking her for sex, but she said she did not want to have sex with him. She said she then agreed so he would not harm her. She asked if she could take her child to her bedroom to put her to bed so he let her go across the hall.
The woman said she took off running downstairs holding her baby, and they made it to her car. She said Sparks got to the car before she could close the door, but she was able to activate the horn.
She said Sparks dragged her back into the apartment by the hair of her head and then put his hands around her neck and started strangling her again. He then went outside and got the baby and brought her inside.
When he returned, the woman said he saw her hanging up from calling 911. He asked if she had called the police and he told her he "now had to kill you."
Police said Sparks made her go back upstairs where he took off her pants and panties and forced himself on her.
He then looked out the window and saw that police were outside. He went downstairs and told officers that everything was fine.
Sparks was taken in for questioning, and he claimed the woman consented to sex.
A witness who called police during the incident said he was awakened when he heard a car alarm going off. He said he heard a man and woman arguing, then he heard the female scream, "My baby. My baby."
He said the woman started banging on her door screaming for help, but then he said it sounded like someone covered her mouth and dragged her away.