COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. – All three defendants in a Colonial Heights kidnapping case plead not guilty and received a trial date in a court hearing Monday afternoon.
Travis Bennett is accused of forcing his way into a former girlfriend’s Colonial Heights apartment, along with two other men, Travis Harvey and Troy Patterson.
According to a federal compliant, the men attempted to force the woman and her child to leave with them, but the mother was able to get away and contact police.
The documents show the 7-year-old child begged the men involved not to kill her or her mother.
They say Bennett grabbed his former girlfriend by the neck, choked her, dragged her, and threatened to kill her and have her sexually assaulted. Bennett then said he was going to “do them both, and instructed the men to find a knife in the kitchen,” according to the federal documents.
The child was later found safe in Weldon, North Carolina, after an Amber Alert.
The three men are from North Carolina and have been charged with federal interstate kidnapping of a minor.
During Monday’s ruling, a judge ruled defendants Bennett and Harvey to stay in police custody until their jury trial begins on October 5, 2016. Troy Patterson was released with electronic monitoring until the trial date.
