A man has been jailed without bond after Villages Charter School staff alerted social services when a student reported her mother was threatened with a gun over the holidays.
James William Mellor, 55, of Wildwood, was booked without bond this week at the Sumter County Detention Center. He has since been transferred to the Lake County Jail.
He is facing a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Mellor on Dec. 13 went to a home in Fruitland Park to help his ex-wife decorate for the holidays, according to an arrest warrant. Mellor ordered the girl to go to her bedroom, then pulled a gun on his ex-wife and said, “I have been meaning to do this.” She shouted for her daughter to gather her siblings and get them out of the house. Instead, the daughter went to her mother and saw that Mellor had pulled a gun on her. He fled the home.
The mother did not report the incident to law enforcement because she was afraid of Mellor, the warrant said.
The daughter reported the altercation to staff at The Villages Charter Elementary School, who then contacted the Department of Children and Families.
