DALTON, Ga. — A Dalton man charged with the beating of a 16-year-old girl was awaiting extradition from Hamilton County (Chattanooga) to Whitfield County Tuesday afternoon, Capt. Paul Woods with the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

Michael Ricketts, 19, faces a charge of aggravated battery, according to a sheriff’s office incident report.

The report said deputies were sent to 3068 Old Grade Road on Sunday at about 6 a.m. on a report of an unconscious person. The report said the deputies found a 16-year-old female “unconscious and having involuntary control of her body.” The report said the girl had “an excessive amount of bruising over her entire body, she even exhibited bite marks on her body.”

NewsChannel9 in Chattanooga reported the girl’s name as Cordelia Cheyenne Baldridge. Family members told the TV station she “is getting better, but is still in a lot of pain.”

When EMTs arrived, they took the girl and Ricketts to Hamilton Medical Center “for their welfare because of exhibiting extreme behavior for possibly being under the influence of narcotics.” 

The report said deputies found a “small amount of a crystalized substance consistent with the appearance of methamphetamine” in the room in which Ricketts and the 16-year-old were staying. A field test resulted in a “positive indication” for meth.