BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Three separate domestic violence incidents — including one in which he reportedly pepper sprayed his ex-wife — are among numerous criminal charges and court cases in accused Sullivan County murderer Donald Britt’s past record.
Britt, now charged with first-degree murder in the Wednesday shooting death of Katie Arnold and suspected in another shooting death that occurred Wednesday night or Thursday, was on eight years’ probation for a 2018 theft conviction when Arnold was killed. His criminal history also includes two domestic violence charges in 2017 and another in 2020.
In February 2017, court records show that Britt came to his ex-wife’s apartment “wanting to talk and to see their children.” The two got into an argument and Britt left, according to an affidavit, but returned, entered the home and allegedly started saying he would take the children and leave.
After Britt “started pushing her to get around her,” the victim sprayed him with pepper spray to try and get him to leave, but he “took it away from her and then sprayed her with it.” A witness was present and confirmed everything, documents state.
Britt pleaded guilty to simple domestic assault and to violating a protective order for calling the victim the next day. Less than three months later, he was arrested after an argument with his girlfriend during which he allegedly slapped her across the face and threw her cell phone against the wall when she was trying to call 911.
Britt pleaded guilty to charges of domestic assault, interference with emergency calls and vandalism in that case.
The domestic cases didn’t get Britt into the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) system, though. That occurred after he was arrested for stealing four different cars from a used car business in Kingsport on Sept. 26, 2018.
When the business was closed, an affidavit reads, Britt forcibly entered and stole a Toyota Sequoia, a Chrysler Town and Country, a Ford F-150 and a Toyota Corolla — with a combined reported value of $88,000.
That case was put to a grand jury, which indicted Britt on charges of theft over $60,000 but less than $250,000 as well as burglary. He pleaded guilty in November 2018 and was given eight years’ probation on the theft and two years on the burglary.
In the third recorded domestic incident, Britt was charged with violating his probation in March 2020 after a Feb. 28, 2020 incident at his father’s home in Unicoi County. He had just been released from jail, according to an arrest warrant, and showed up at his parents’ “appearing under the influence.”
According to both parents’ accounts, Britt entered his father’s room “talking crazy” about white power and the Aryan brotherhood, then approached his father, who pushed him away. Britt allegedly then punched his father above his left eye several times. The incident was reported to Johnson City police by Johnson City Medical Center staff.
The remainder of Britt’s numerous charges generally centers around traffic violations, though the most recent was for unlawful removal or alteration of a vehicle tag on Dec. 28, 2022.
