AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A judge accepted a guilty plea in the 2022 case of a man accused of holding his estranged wife at gunpoint and threatening to set her on fire before deputies showed up.

The suspect, Frank Ward, was sentenced Thursday to 20 years behind bars.

The incident happened Feb. 12, 2022, in the 2400 block of Lisbon Road, where deputies went after getting a 911 call with no one on the line.

Upon arrival, a deputies heard a woman scream out, “Please don’t kill me,” and a gunshot.

Deputies said they kicked in the side door and found victim Matilyn Ward on the floor with her estranged husband Frank Ward wielding a revolver.

Frank Ward complied with deputies’ commands and they took him into custody.

He was supposed to go to trial this week after a series of delays.

He was charged with home invasion, burglary, aggravated assault, three counts of family violence, terroristic threats, hindering a 911 call and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

He entered a guilty plea Thursday in a proceeding where the courtroom was so full, some people had to leave and chairs had to be brought in to accommodate those still in the room.

Ward and the victim were married at the time of the incident but estranged.

Prosecutors said he broke into her house and covered her with a gasoline-soaked towel.

She was pistol-whipped, choked, beaten, and he shot into her bed’s headboard, according to prosecutors.

He reportedly told her to “show him who she was talking to,” but she somehow managed to call 911 instead.

He hung up the phone, but she ran into the kitchen. Deputies showed up, and Ward shot toward her, with the bullet barely missing her head.

On deputies’ body camera footage played in court Thursday, you can hear the gunshot after they knock on the door.

Deputies then pulled their weapons and told him to drop his.

Weeks prior, she’d filed a police report because she said she was leaving him, but he got violent, according to prosecutors.

She said he put a tracker in her car and was a controlling person both physically and financially.

She said she told everyone she could about how dangerous he was, and no one could stop it, including their families.

She said he even had someone come attack her but called him back because he “wanted to do it himself.”

At Thursday’s hearing, prosecutors asked for a life sentence because he was a threat to the victim “and to this entire community.”

The public defender said she hadn’t been representing him long, but said he was a gentleman who wanted to take responsibility for his actions. She said he has a trucking company and put his oldest daughter through private school and sent her to Auburn.

A letter was read from his late mother before she went into hospice in 2023.

She said he suffered three concussions playing football. and witnessed domestic violence in his home growing up. She divorced his dad because of it.

She wrote that she wondered whether it was right to put him in a cell and that he’s been described as a violent criminal but had some redeeming qualities.

In court, Ward apologized to the victim and their families, calling her a remarkable mom.

He said people deserve to know why the crimes happened, then blamed his “untreated depression,” which he said led to violent outbursts.

He asked the court to consider his mental health problems.

He said marital and relational stress created an environment in which his mental illness thrived.

He said he recalled his victim going through depression but she had the tools to deal with it. He said he didn’t.

The judge accepted his guilty plea.

“You’ve been rather dangerous,” the judge told him. “I’m not going to release you. That’s not even a consideration.”

The judge called the body cam video “disturbing,” said it’s hard to believe Ward’s behavior will change “just because he tells me so” and added, “As long as I’m on the bench, I’d like to know where he is.”

The judge said he couldn’t consider the mental health issue because no doctor is saying it, just Ward.

The judge sentenced Ward to 20 years of confinement with five years of probation. Ward is to have no contact with the victim and can’t get within 500 yards of her.

Copyright 2022 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.