Man charged with killing wife, child

A Marietta man has been indicted on murder charges in the death of his wife and unborn baby.

The Cobb County grand jury Thursday formally charged 57-year-old Elvin Durant with malice murder and feticide (the voluntary manslaughter of an unborn child) along with other counts, court records show.

His wife, 38-year-old Crystal Durant, was eight weeks pregnant when he allegedly attacked her.

Cobb police said at the time that investigators believe the child was his.

He allegedly stabbed his wife “several times” with ablack folding knife in the head and back of the neck, according to a warrant, about 2:20 a.m. Aug. 25 at a Wood Meadows Drive home.

The woman’s 19-year-old son tried to intervene and protect his mother, according to the warrant. Elvin Durant stabbed the teen in his upper right thigh.

What caused the rampage Durant is accused of committing isn’t clear, but he was known to Cobb police.

Police were called tothe Wood Meadows Drive house on July 30, according to a warrant. Crystal Durant told investigators that she left the house after being “sexually assaulted by her husband” and found two televisions destroyed when she came back.

Police noted that the two TVs appeared to have water damage, but the warrant makes no other mention of the alleged sexual assault.

He was charged with felony criminal damage and jailed just under three days before bonding out for about $3,500, jail records show.

In the murder case, no next court date was listed online Monday. He has been in jail without bond since late August.