Athens woman allegedly hit victim's face with hammer, then struck her and another victim with car

Jessica Rayvon Taylor

By Joe Johnson

An Athens woman was recently arrested on charges she hit another woman in the face with a hammer and then struck the victim and another woman with her car.

Jessica Rayvon Taylor, 41, of Sena Drive was booked into the Athens-Clarke County Jail on charges of aggravated assault and aggravated battery, according to the jail’s website.

Lt. Shaun Barnett, public information officer for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, said the arrest on Friday stemmed from a dispute at a home in the 500 block of North Peter Street in which someone reportedly wielded a hammer and possibly ran over a victim with a car and then drove away from the scene. The caller reported that the person who was struck by a car was on their way to the hospital.

Upon their arrival at the scene, Barnett said, officers spoke with two males, who told them that Taylor had been on the phone with an old boyfriend and got upset because she heard the voices of other females in the background.

The males said that when Taylor showed up in her car, she pulled into the driveway, got out of her vehicle, and immediately started confronting one of the females, according to the police officer.

A witness stated that when Taylor exited the car “she was twirling around a hammer and then struck the victim in the face with the claw of the hammer,” Barnett said. “The witness stated that Jessica got back in her vehicle and drove into another female. The witness stated that Jessica hit the two females with her vehicle when she was turning to leave and hit an item close to the fence and the house on her way out. Officers on scene observed the damage to the side of the house in multiple spots along with debris from the vehicle on the ground."

According to Barnett, “Another witness stated that he heard a commotion coming from outside and when he looked outside, he saw three females fighting. One of the females jumped in the vehicle and ran the other two females over, struck the house, struck the fence, and then fled at a high rate of speed.”

Officers met with the victims at the hospital and took statements that corroborated the events as described by witnesses, Barnett said.

Taylor was subsequently found at a location on Firewood Street, where she was taken into custody, the police spokesman said.

The woman was denied bond at a hearing Saturday afternoon before a Magistrate Court judge.