Man brutally attacked pregnant ex before kids’ soccer game, Arizona officials say
A man traveled from California to Arizona, then physically assaulted his pregnant ex-wife in front of her children, prosecutors say.
Garrett Headrick, 27, was sentenced to 21 years in prison in connection with the “brutal” attack of his ex-wife, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said in an Oct. 21 news release.
Headrick’s sentencing comes after he pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including attempted second-degree murder, kidnapping and stalking, prosecutors said.
Attorney information for Headrick was not immediately available.
“Domestic violence is about power and control, and it leaves lasting scars on victims and families,” County Attorney /achel/Mitchell said in the release.
After arriving at his ex-wife’s home in Surprise in October 2024, Headrick confronted her and her three children as they “were leaving for a soccer game,” prosecutors said.
Armed with a metal bar, Headrick forced the family back inside the home, according to prosecutors.
A neighbor called 911 shortly after 7:30 a.m. Oct. 19, to report seeing “a man grab a woman and drag her by the hair into a home,” the Surprise Police Department said in a Facebook post.
Once inside the home, Headrick is accused of physically assaulting his ex-wife in front of her children, repeatedly hitting her and “threatening to kill her,” the district attorney’s office said.
“At one point, he dragged her into the kitchen and armed himself with a knife while strangling her,” prosecutors said.
When officers arrived, police said “they heard a woman screaming for help from inside.”
The officers forced their way into the home and found “Headrick on top of the victim with his hands around her throat and slamming her head into the ground,” according to the district attorney’s office.
Officers fired “less-lethal bean bag-type rounds” at Headrick, stopping his assault, police said.
The ex-wife was left “with significant cuts to her hands, scratch and cut marks around her neck, and a brain bleed on the back of her head,” prosecutors said.
The woman was in stable condition after being taken to a hospital, police said.
Surprise is about a 30-mile drive northwest from Phoenix.
This story was originally published October 22, 2025 at 9:45 AM with the headline "Man brutally attacked pregnant ex before kids’ soccer game, Arizona officials say."
