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Boys basketball coach accused of beating fiancée so severely neighbors didn't recognize her

Posted at 6:56 PM, Dec 15, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-15 18:56:37-05

ORION TOWNSHIP (WXYZ) — Christian Depaul Roberson, 31, is behind bars, charged with the brutal assault on his fiancée, 30-year-old Amanda Hughes, who managed to crawl for help Saturday after investigators say Roberson attacked her in their Orion Township home.

RELATED: Rochester school district boys basketball coach arrested

Hughes, the mother of Roberson's 3-month-old baby, suffered injuries so severe that their next-door neighbors, who called 911 for Hughes, didn't even recognize her.

"She rang our doorbell. We have a camera. She's sitting on our doorstep bleeding," the neighbor told a dispatcher during the 911 call. "It looks like somebody beat her up."

The neighbor also told the dispatcher that the woman they thought was a stranger was asking about her baby.

Roberson fled the location with their infant in a black 2018 Cadillac XT5, according to investigators with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office who notified surrounding agencies to be on the lookout for him.

And soon after the attack, investigators say Roberson began posting on social media that he was remorseful and suicidal.

Hughes was rushed to a nearby hospital and, due to the severity of her injuries, was later airlifted to the University of Michigan Hospital (Michigan Medicine) in Ann Arbor.

"She will be in need of extensive facial reconstruction surgery, and a collapsed lung has already been repaired," one of her relatives wrote in a GoFundMe. "She will be unable to go to work for a very long time and will need help caring for her daughter. Her family has rallied and is asking for help from our community."

Hughes remains in critical condition. After the assault, Roberson dropped their baby off at his mother's house in Pontiac and, according to sources, he may have fled Michigan but then returned.

He was arrested by the Oakland County Sheriff's Fugitive Apprehension Team.

Roberson owns Empire Basketball Training and he coached 7th grade boys in basketball at Van Hoosen Middle School in Rochester Hills.

After learning of Roberson's arrest, Rochester Community Schools fired him, according to Supt. Dr. Robert Shaner.

Roberson has been arraigned on multiple charges including assault with intent to do great bodily harm – a 10-year felony – and aggravated domestic violence.

He's due back in court on Dec. 22.