Girlfriend hit woman with axe for hugging her boyfriend

Police in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have arrested and charged a 34-year-old woman with aggravated assault and attempted first degree murder, after investigators say she confessed to hitting another woman with an axe, because she hugged her boyfriend.

The incident happened just after 5:30pm on Sunday. A police affidavit says that the investigating officer arrived on the scene to find a woman with a bad gash on her forehead and several teeth missing from the attack. The woman told police that Juanita Lee Chappell attacked her after she gave a man a hug at a homeless camp.



The woman, who was later taken to a local hospital, told the investigator that Chapell was still in the area. Police later caught up with Chappell. She told investigators that she did not know the victim very well, and had only recently met her. The affidavit says she admitted to hitting the victim in the head with an axe because she saw her hugging her boyfriend.

Chappell described the hug as "intimate," but the victim told investigators the man was only a friend, and she was giving him a goodbye hug. Police then arrested Chappell and took her to the Hamilton County Jail, where she has a $200,000 bond.