Police say Charlotte firefighter choked fiancée, beat kitten

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Five arrest warrants against Charlotte firefighter Bryan Barfield detail what police said was a violent attack.

Warrants obtained by Channel 9 said Barfield choked his fiancée, 29-year-old Kelli McCarver, dragged her around the house, repeatedly hit her in the face, and forced her head against the dishwasher on July 18.

Another warrant alleges that some of the violence happened in front of the couple's 2-year-old child.

Barfield is also accused of telling McCarver that if she tried to call police, she'd be dead before they arrived.

Barfield was in court Monday facing five different charges, including animal cruelty. That specific warrant said during the assault, Barfield killed a 14-week-old kitten, by choking it, beating it, punting it like a football across the yard, dunking it into the toilet, and slamming the toilet seat against its head.

Gaston county police said this all happened at the couple's home on Lowell Bethesda Road in Gastonia in court, Barfield's fiancée McCarver told the court that he was a loving father who had lived with her for four years. She didn't want him prosecuted and wanted him out of jail as soon as possible.

Standing with a brace on her fractured wrist, she told the judge she wasn't afraid of him.

"We have a child together, and he's raised my other two children also. I'm not scared," she said.

At one point the prosecutor made the statement that steroid use may be a factor in the violent attack, but McCarver interrupted.

"Not steroids," she said. "He was taking HCG shots, for weight loss."

McCarver believed that played a role in Barfield's alleged behavior.

The family's lawyer called Barfield a model citizen. Officials said there was no history of domestic violence in the family.

Because of McCarver's plea to release Barfield, his bond was lowered from $50,000 to $10,000.

Family members did not want to comment outside the courtroom after the hearing, and Barfield's lawyer also refused to comment.

However, Charlotte Fire Captain Rob Brisley released a statement on Monday stating, in part, "I want our citizens to know, we hold our firefighters to a high standard of conduct."

Barfield has been a Charlotte firefighter for two years. He's on administrative duty during the investigation, and was still in jail at the Gaston County detention center late Monday.

WSOC