SUSPECT BEATS UP A MAN, SHOVES PLUNGER DOWN HIS THROAT, POURS BLEACH ON HIM, KIDNAPS HIS CHILD
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A 19-year-old man is accused of beating a man, pouring bleach on him and kidnapping his child. 
Charles Coffman is charged with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, theft and tampering with evidence.
According to warrants, police were called to do a welfare check at 1200 Mercer Street around 8:45 a.m. Sunday. The warrants said someone called in saying they were concerned Coffman may have murdered a man and kidnapped his 3-year-old daughter.
Police forced entry into the home and found a naked man in the bathroom with a serious head injury and noted a strong smell of bleach, the warrants state. Police said they did not find the child and put a BOLO call for the victim’s car, which had been stolen.
According to the warrants, Sevierville police stopped the car and found Coffman, a woman and the 3-year-old in the car. The child was taken to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital for an evaluation, the warrants said.
The warrants said the victim suffered a subdural hematoma and other possible serious injuries. Police were not able to interview the victim.
When police interviewed the suspect, the warrants said Coffman’s mother called from jail and told him to go to the home on Mercer Street to get the child on Saturday or Sunday. Coffman said an Uber took him and a woman to the house. The warrants clarify that it’s the same woman who was later found with Coffman in the stolen car.
According to the warrants, Coffman said he got into the fight with the victim, slammed him to the ground, hit him in the face multiple times, hit him with a plunger and stuffed it into the victim’s mouth.
The warrants said Coffman admitted to dragging the victim into the bathroom, stripping him naked and pouring bleach on the victim’s wounds. He also admitted to taking the victims’ car, but he said he had permission from his mother to take it.
Police asked Coffman to write an apology letter to the victim, which he did, documents show.
According to the warrants, police spoke with Coffman’s mother in jail, who said she had not spoken to him and she “did not and would not” let Coffman take custody of the child or take the car. The warrants said the guardians of the child are Coffman’s mother and the victim.
The woman in the car with Coffman told police she walked into the home on Mercer and saw the victim lying on the floor in the living room, according to the warrants. She said Coffman handed her the child and they left in the victim’s car.
She also told police she heard Coffman on the phone with someone saying he thought he killed the victim and “didn’t know if the victim was alive or dead.”
Coffman remains in the Knox County Jail. As of Tuesday afternoon, his bond had not been set.
