Ten-year-old Maddox Thomas testified Tuesday that Jacob Pearman, a former weight and fitness trainer, pulled him out of bed and kicked and choked him, then made him sit in the hall before he ran to school barefooted on a cold December morning more than two years ago wearing nothing but his pajamas. The child, who was 7 at the time Dec. 14, 2012 incident, said he ran away from home that morning "because I got tired of getting hurt. I didn't want to get hurt anymore." Pearman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to aggravated assault and child abuse in the alleged abuse of Maddox and to first-degree murder in the choking death his newlywed bride, Carla Pearman, who was Maddox's mother.
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