Police have charged James Edward Layne with attempted first-degree murder for hitting his girlfriend in the head with a hammer.
Layne, 46, is also charged with domestic assault.
In the incident on Wednesday on Patten Chapel Road in Lookout Valley, the first officer on the scene saw a woman running toward him. He also saw a boy running from the house, who said that "Daddy is trying to kill Mommy."
The officer said a white male who was on the porch went inside, then came back out.
The woman said they got into an argument and he choked her and began hitting her with the hammer. She showed where blood was splattered on the wall and floor.
She said Layne had her clean up and change clothes. She showed an officer her bloody clothes. She said he tried to clean up the blood from the wall and floor.
The woman was transported to the hospital. She had bruises and knots on her head and blood was running down her face.
The hammer was found outside on the sidewalk.
The woman said Layne believed she was cheating on him.
She said Layne had beaten her before in Grundy County and she had to be taken to Vanderbilt Hospital after that attack.