DeWaunte Leemont Nunley (Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office) and Carey Johnson (KWT-DT screenshots)
A 39-year-old fugitive in Oklahoma has been arrested and will now face a pair of felony charges for allegedly biting off his girlfriend’s chin two years ago while in the throes of a multi-day meth binge. DeWaunte Leemont Nunley was taken into custody this week and charged with one count of domestic abuse by strangulation and one count of maiming in the 2021 attack on Carey Johnson, authorities announced.
“Today, Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Hagar was able to track down a dangerous fugitive who was wanted on a warrant, charging him for biting a woman’s chin off!” a Wednesday press release from the agency stated. “Nunley, who has a lengthy criminal history, failed to show up for court so a warrant was issued for his arrest. Deputy Hagar tracked Mr. Nunley to a homeless camp where he was arrested without incident on that outstanding warrant.”
Court records reviewed by Law&Crime show that the charges against Nunley were originally filed in Oklahoma County in June 2021. He pleaded guilty to both counts and was sentenced to time served plus 10 years of supervised release. However, the records indicate that Nunley failed to appear for three consecutive domestic violence review hearings in February, March, and April of 2023, leading to a bench warrant being issued for his arrest.
Nunley was arrested on the warrant on May 15, 2023, and released on $2,000 bond, but failed to appear for a subsequent hearing on the matter on May 26, records show. The posted bond was forfeited and Nunley had been on the lam for the last week.
Johnson, Nunley’s former girlfriend, provided additional details about the actual attack in a 2021 interview with Oklahoma City CBS affiliate KWTV. She told the station that Nunley went into a “meth-infused” rage prior to the attack, which was only thwarted when her rescue dog came to her aid.
Johnson, who said she had been living out of her car for about a month prior to the attack, was at an Oklahoma City car wash with Nunley at the time of the assault.
“It just looked like it wasn’t him. His eyes changed, his voice changed, his whole demeanor and he snapped,” Johnson told the station. “I tried to get out of the car but he pulled me in and started to kind of push me down like this so I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t yell.”
That was when Johnson said her dog, Big Red, went after Nunley.
“I didn’t realize he was out of the car barking and biting,” Johnson said. “He didn’t bite to hurt him. He didn’t like take a chunk out of him or make a severe hole in him. He just bit him to get him off of me and I’m proud of him.”
Following the assault, Johnson said Nunley drove away from the car wash in her car, leaving her with nowhere to go. Police said that when he was taken into custody, Nunley had a firearm that had been hidden inside Johnson’s car.