COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors have upgraded charges against the Lincoln Park man accused of brutally beating and strangling his ex-girlfriend inside her Buena Park apartment earlier this month.
Travis Holcomb, 33, was charged with aggravated domestic battery and violating an order of protection following the Jan. 4 attack, in which he allegedly beat the 30-year-old victim so badly that she suffered a collapsed lung and chipped teeth.
Holcomb now faces additional felony charges of attempted murder, home invasion causing injury and residential burglary, court records show.
During an arraignment Monday, Holcomb pleaded not guilty on all counts.
According to prosecutors, the attack happened sometime after midnight on Jan. 4. Holcomb entered the woman's Buena Park apartment through an unlocked back door and confronted her when she returned home from a night out with friends, prosecutors said.
Holcomb allegedly beat and kicked the victim, and repeatedly strangled her as she drifted in and out of consciousness.
When the woman, who had blacked out, eventually awoke about 3 a.m., prosecutors said, she found Holcomb asleep on her couch and called police.
At the time of the attack, the 30-year-old victim had an active order of protection against Holcomb, who was convicted of attacking the woman just six months prior.
In that case, Holcomb grabbed the woman by the throat, choked her and punched her in the face several times about 6:30 p.m. on June 1, 2015, court records show. The two were still dating at the time.
After an initial attack, the woman agreed to go out to dinner with Holcomb because he had "calmed" and the woman was scared, an arrest report said. Holcomb allegedly threatened, "If you tell anyone what happened, you will wish you were dead," the report said.
Holcomb became irate and argumentative during dinner, according to court records, and began to repeatedly spit in the victim's face. Police were later called to the woman's Buena Park home, where she and two witnesses told officers about Holcomb's behavior, the police report shows.
Holcomb in June 2015 was convicted of domestic battery causing bodily harm and sentenced to 12 months probation. He violated that probation in August, October and January, court records show.
Holcomb has a long history of domestic violence charges across several states, according to a report by CBS2 Chicago. Some of these charges were later dropped. Details of each case could not be immediately confirmed.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
