The daughter and neighbor of a D.C. police officer accused of trying to kill his wife testified in Prince George's County Tuesday.
Samson Lawrence III faces the possibility of life in prison on charges including attempted murder in connection with an incident last November.
Prosecutors say Lawrence was attempting to hang a projection TV at his home in Accokeek, Md. when he became angry with his wife because she said she didn't know where the screws to hang the projector were.
Lawrence then grabbed a can of Lysol and began spraying it in his wife's face, police said. The victim told police when she refused to make him something to eat, Lawrence began to push her.
Prosecutors say he beat her with a metal light post and threatened her with knives when she tried to call 911.
The victim was able to escape the house and called 911 from a neighbor's house.
"She had blood coming from her head, glass in her hair. She was shaking and crying and she said, 'Call 911,'" a neighbor testified Tuesday.
The couple's 16-year-old daughter heard the altercation and also called 911.
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"I [could] hear spray being sprayed... I [could] hear her say, 'Stop spraying it!'" the girl testified Tuesday.
She's heard on a 911 call saying, "My father is beating my mother, I need you to come now."
Lawrence's wife suffered a cut on her head that required five staples and a hairline fracture to her right wrist.
The victim said her husband has put the family through a lot over the years, News4's Mark Segraves reported.
In the wake of Lawrence's arrest, the D.C. police department placed him on non-contact status after learning of the allegations, meaning he has no police powers on the street.
"It's horrible to have one of our members involved a domestic violence assault like that whereby they brought charges," Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham said. "It's a very serious allegation. We take it very seriously."
Lawrence had joined the department in 1990 and was a patrol officer on the department's fourth district, Newsham said.
