Warner Robins man gets 30 years in prison for repeated domestic abuse

Patrick Devon Cotton was convicted of 11 charges involving his former girlfriend. His 60-year sentence includes 30 years in prison.

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — A Warner Robins man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after a jury convicted him of 11 charges involving repeated abuse of his former girlfriend, according to a news release from the Houston County District Attorney’s Office.

26-year-old Patrick Devon Cotton was convicted Tuesday following a two-day trial. He was sentenced to 60 years, with the first 30 to serve in prison.

The convictions spanned eight separate dates and included two counts of aggravated assault involving strangulation, three counts of battery and two counts of second-degree criminal damage to property. Cotton was also convicted of simple battery, criminal trespass, false imprisonment and aggravated stalking.

According to prosecutors, Cotton assaulted the woman on at least seven occasions between September and November 2025. The abuse included punching, kicking, biting, strangling and dragging her by her hair. He also destroyed two cellphones and damaged her vehicle.

After an assault in November, the woman’s family became concerned when they couldn’t reach her. Prosecutors said Cotton had destroyed her phone.

Relatives went to the couple’s home on Sterling Drive and helped the woman leave. Once they were at another location, family members saw visible injuries to her face and body, and she told them about the abuse.

Her family encouraged her to report it to the Warner Robins Police Department.

A detective documented the woman’s injuries, developed a timeline of the assaults and obtained arrest warrants, according to the release. Cotton was arrested in late November 2025.

The district attorney’s office said Cotton continued trying to contact the woman from the Houston County Jail until shortly before his trial.

“This verdict demonstrates why we cannot look at acts of domestic violence in isolation,” District Attorney Eric Edwards said. “What might appear from the outside to be separate incidents was, in reality, an escalating pattern of violence and control that placed this victim in tremendous danger.”