Jacob Pauda, a Lubbock, Texas, man who beat his pregnant girlfriend in 2016, received 15 years behind bars on Monday.

KXAN reports that on February 8, 2016, Pauda, 31, didn’t believe the baby his girlfriend, Mercedes Ramirez, was carrying was his, leading him to punch her in the face several times before chasing her with a butcher knife. Authorities were called to the couple’s home off of Itasca Street, shortly after the incident occurred.

After talking to the victim, police indicated that the actual assault took place nearby, off of North Detroit Avenue. The police report read that the suspect took her back to their home afterwards.

“[Pauda] then ran towards [the victim] with a closed right fist punched [her] repeatedly an unknown amount of times on the left side of [the victim’s] face. [Pauda] dropped the knife on the ground and lunged at [the victim]. [Pauda] grabbed [the victim] by the hair and violently threw her onto the ground.”

Ramirez called her mother for help, but when Pauda realized what she did, he became even more violent. He slammed her into a metal object numerous times before accusing her of having an affair.

“You over there f***king that n****r?”

The victim bailed Pauda out of jail just two months prior to the incident. She said on the night of the attack, he did “two bumps of cocaine.” She said she also said that Pauda knew that the child was his.

According to Pauda’s attorney, Martinez later signed an affidavit stating that she wanted Pauda’s sentence lowered, and that she no longer felt that he was a threat to her or her children. The couple appparently remained in contact after Paula was arrested.

“She loves Jacob,” Pauda’s lawyer told Judge John McClendon in the 137th District Court, who presided over the case.

McClendon found Jacob Pauda guilty of a third-degree felony count of domestic assault. Since he had a prior felony assault conviction in 2003, he was ordered to serve 15 years in prison.

[Feature Photo: Lubbock Detention Center]