Well, now we know more about the situation involving former Teen Mom 2 star Nathan Griffith‘s arrest in Sin City… And it may be worse than it seemed…
As Perezcious readers will recall, Jenelle Evans‘ ex was arrested earlier this week and booked into Clark County Jail on allegations that he strangled a woman in the southern Nevada metropolis. And now, we have not only learned the identity of that woman, but we are also hearing her side of the story about what reportedly happened.
According to The Sun, Griffith allegedly choked and “nearly killed” his older sister Heather Griffith at a home in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.
Heather herself spoke to that outlet late Thursday afternoon to give her jaw-dropping and extremely unsettling version of the violent incident.
Contents
‘He Tried To Kill Me’
For one, Heather openly and very explicitly stated how close she came to death on Wednesday:
“He tried to kill me, his own sister.”
OMG…
According to Heather, it all started because her younger brother had been staying at the home she shares with her husband. Nathan — who shares 9-year-old son Kaiser with Evans from their brief time together that began a decade ago — had been friends with Heather’s husband back from when they were together in the military.
But when hubby left town, Nathan started to drink:
“My husband went out of town yesterday, and Nate had been sober at least a week, so he decided that he was going to drink immediately, as soon as my husband left. That’s when the threats and everything started.”
And soon enough, he started making violent statements toward his sister:
“He said to me: ‘Well, you know who is not home to protect you.’ He would not let me leave the house.”
WTF? So terrifying!
Heather then referenced Nathan’s prior arrest for domestic battery by strangulation. That occurred back in February down in Florida. However, the charges against the Teen Mom 2 vet were dropped after that victim refused to cooperate with prosecutors after the incident.
Still, Heather couldn’t help but allude to it in her comments to The Sun on Thursday describing what he did to her:
“He came across the kitchen and he started doing what he does to all women: he started choking me. He threw me on the ground and got on top of me and told me I was going to die. That he was going to kill me.”
Chilling. From there, Nathan reportedly began to choke his older sister.
A Sustained Attack
According to Heather, he went after her at least five different times with sustained choking. She remembered nearly blacking out during the ordeal before she was finally able to escape:
“In between sessions of him choking me, because he’s trying to make me blackout, I said ‘Nate, I’m your sister, how can you do this to me?’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t care. You’re going to die.’ Finally, when he stopped choking me for like the fifth time, I put my knees to my chest as best as I could and kicked him across the room and ran out the door.”
Jeez…
After she called 911, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers showed up quickly. They began to investigate, and while Heather initially did not want them to arrest Nathan (he is still her brother, after all), the cops told her the marks on her body were “so severe” they did not have a choice in the matter.
She explained how difficult it was for her to see her brother go through that — even after attacking her:
“First I tried to even see if they wouldn’t arrest him, to just let Veterans Affairs take him, but the marks on me were so severe that they said they didn’t have a choice. They said that even if I did say I didn’t want him to go to jail… they can’t just slap him on the wrist. They said he has to go to jail, now. They arrested him on the spot. And it’s so hard to see your little brother go through that. But at the same time, he wasn’t caring about me when he had his hands around my neck.”
Exactly. At this point it’s about keeping her safe — keeping all women safe from him!
Pressing Charges
Heather has already gotten an automatic temporary restraining order against Nathan. That’s in place simply due to the nature of the allegations against him — and it will legally keep them separated for some time as he goes through presumed future court appearances.
Reflecting on how close she came to literally dying, Heather realized:
”He really tried to kill me. I literally got myself into a situation where he was not going to stop. He told me I was gonna die. He told me it was going to kill me. And seriously, if I wasn’t able to get him off me, I probably would be dead right now.”
She also admitted to looking forward to showing her brother a little bit of tough love because of what he’d put her through in that Vegas home:
“I do feel bad, but I know I’m doing the right thing and sometimes the right thing is hard. I love my brother, but I have no choice but to do something. He nearly killed me! He put both his hands over my throat and literally tried to kill me and he will go to jail. I don’t care.”
Seriously, tho.
She also confirmed it is her intent to see the charges against her brother go all the way through court — unlike what happened in that aforementioned February allegation against him in Florida. Heather explained:
“You won’t get away with hitting me. I don’t put up with that. I’m sorry. I’m not doing it. So he will go to jail. I will press charges against him. There is no mercy this time. He did that. To me. In my own home. Even though he did what he did to me. I still called the VA and a VA advocate will be there and they will help him. But as far as me and him, we are done until he gets real help.”
Good for you, girl!
Drinking Drama
As far as the actual problem itself, Heather confirmed to The Sun that her brother struggles with binge drinking issues. She told the outlet that alcohol and steroid use can combine to set him off in unpredictable ways sometimes:
“It’s the binge drinking, that’s what he does. He’s a binge drinker. He’ll drink for like a week or two, like one to two bottles of Tito’s every single day. And then he’ll just quit — he’ll get in some kind of trouble or run out of money and then quit and then he does it all over again. And then he’s always doing steroids.”
With that, Heather asserts that a full-on intervention via the justice system is probably exactly what he needs at this point in his life:
“He can deal with the justice system. He honestly thinks he’s bigger than women. Well, you’re not bigger than the justice system. And eventually, even if I don’t do it, it will catch up to him. Someday he’s going to mess with the wrong girl one time, and he’s lucky that I’m doing what I have to do to teach him a lesson. … If this is the only way to get him into some kind of treatment facility, then fine. I’ll take one for the team. I don’t care if my whole family hates me afterward, but he’s going to go to jail.”
And yet! Even though she believes he needs to face consequences for his actions, it sounds like she’s also worried about the long road that may be ahead for her beloved brother:
“I’m scared for what is going to happen to him because Nevada is no joke. I don’t even have to press charges on him. Even if I wanted to drop them, the state will still pick them up. He’s left marks all over me. It’s pretty undeniable. The whole side of my face is swollen and my neck too.”
Trying To Recover
It sounds like there have been a lot of ups and downs between Nathan and his sister. Even with all of his issues, the older sis tried to explain that she still loves her brother — when he’s sober.
Heather said:
“When he’s sober, I am so proud to be his sister, I am so proud of him. He goes to the gym every day. He helps me around the house. He’s a good guy, but when he’s drunk, you never know what you’re getting.”
And she concluded by (rightfully) asserting why it was acceptable for her to pursue these charges against him:
“No one is allowed to make you feel unsafe in your own home, even if it’s your own little brother. … Nate is harming himself by harming me. He’s harming his innocent children by harming me. It’s got to stop. It’s going to stop. I don’t care what I have to do, but he’s not going to do this again.”
Man. This is not an easy situation. We totally get that he’s her brother, and she loves him and has loved him her whole life, but his problem with drinking could get her killed.
But still, as she noted, he could have very seriously injured her — or far worse.
A Long History
Sadly, this is far from Nathan’s first run-in with the law. In addition to the aforementioned February arrest that eventually fizzled out, back when Nathan was on MTV‘s Teen Mom 2 in 2015, he was arrested by police in Horry County, South Carolina for an alleged domestic disturbance involving Jenelle. In fact, that’s his mugshot from that arrest up there (above, inset).
That arrest was captured by MTV’s cameras at the time:
And now, all of this.
So scary…
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse, help is available. Consider checking out the resources SAMHSA provides at https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline or check out StartYourRecovery.org.
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